Home from Florida

We're back home after a lovely and relaxing 10 days in Florida. A HUGE thank you to our friends who let us stay at their wonderful condo. The highlights for me were introducing (and re-introducing) our kids to the warm, wide ocean. Carolyn was fearless. Emily was content to stay on the beach. David was busy going back and forth between the two. Emily did great in the swimming pool. She wore a life vest and it gave her confidence to do the backstroke all over the pool. She also ate her first sushi! We had seared ahi and she was a big fan. The other highlights for me were sunset at the beach and finishing the Digging Deep book. I had an afternoon to myself at a bookstore. I sat in a deep leather armchair, sipping my iced coffee and, for the first time, drew a first draft of my dream garden in the back of my journal.

As kids, we're told to not tell our wishes or they won't come true. I think the opposite is true. Taking my dreams from vague ideas to something tangible brought them one step closer to reality. Speaking one dream makes me realize there are many more waiting to be spoken. And pursued into reality.

In-Joy

In the last few months, I've finally found this part of myself that had been asleep or silenced for a long, long time. Letting myself create is bringing me to life in new ways. For me, the only thing better than this experience would be to bring creativity in it's many forms into community with you and those you know.

So, with the help of friends and the permission of emily, erin and tracy, I'm announcing the beginning of In-joy: A collaborative creative project open to anyone. This is in the spirit of Wordplay, a creative experience I've enjoyed watching several artist-bloggers create. The idea is that a word is given with 6 weeks to process and create something that uses that word in some way. The parameters of what you create and how you create it are wide open. A poem. A song. A photograph. A collage. A painting. A quilt. Anything. Really.

My hope is you will let yourself be free to create and not just enjoy what comes out at the end, but that you will learn something about yourself in the process. I'm really as interested in the process for you as in the outcome.

You are invited to post pictures of your creation on a picasaweb page. I wanted posting to be as easy as possible. Just email me at christin dot nevins at gmail dot com to get the id and password. To view postings, go to this link.

The word for this first In-Joy is light.

Postings are due on or before August 19, 2008. You can post as many creations as you'd like.

I'll give a new word on August 20.

Can't wait!

Recent Projects

I've been having a lot of fun working on different projects, lately. I've also been trying to take more pictures when I notice beautiful things. Here are some of the results.

This hydrangea came from my great-grandparents' home in Colorado. They lived in the same house for...at least 40 years, maybe longer. They grew these huge, beautiful hydrangea bushes in the front of their house. I have many childhood memories of walking around and around their yard, looking at beautiful flowers and gardens, gently touching, smelling, watching bees gather pollen. After my great-grandfather passed away last year, my mom brought these cuttings of his bushes here. I didn't know if they would make it. They flowered this summer and Carolyn brought this flower in to me one day. I put it in this little glass in my kitchen window. It is one of many, many reminders that my great-grandparents are still with me in so many ways and so many forms. (Sniffle. Smile.)

I sewed my first skirt using fabric from my "pile of good intentions." Fabric I impulsively bought thinking I would make something, and years later it still is folded in some corner or closet...I used this book, which was very helpful and empowering. Funny story. It's a drawstring skirt, so it needs to be a little roomy at the top to get past the hips...Somehow I WAY over compensated on those measurements and here was the result:

Yeah. A little more roomy than I was planning on...but it makes me (and my husband) laugh almost every time I put it on...More skirts to come!

Finally, I knitted these washcloths as part of a wedding gift using organic cotton with natural dyes. I loved the colors, the feel of the yarn and using tiny bamboo needles. The patterns were from the purl bee. Love their projects and tutorials!


Thanks to all for your support and encouragement in exploring this part of myself. Tomorrow I want to propose a group project of sorts...stay tuned!