Rice paper lamp applauds

We got this rice paper lamp for the shop from Ikea. It was open on the bottom and the light bulb glared through. I solved the problem by searching for an interesting piece of similar paper to seal the bottom with.

The decision was easy when I remembered Annet’s wonderful letter to me when I finished work on my book. It was written on her special ‘Applause’ paper (the description is in Dutch, but the image gives the idea).
The cleverness of this product plays on a Dutch pun-  clapping is ‘Klap’ in Dutch. Coincidentally, the poppy flower is called a ‘klaproos’, ‘roos’ means ‘rose’.
How are these related?
In her ingenious concept, Annet printed the word ‘klap’ repeatedly on the paper along with images of clapping hands. The paper is specifically meant for sending someone a letter of applause for something they have accomplished, or simply a letter of appreciation.  The punchline? (and why it doesn’t translate into English), is that if you then PLANT the letter and give it water, it sprouts in ‘klaprozen’or poppies. If you look closely at the first photo, you can see that the paper is full of tiny poppy seeds.

I felt bad about cutting up the beautiful letter, but since it was meant to be planted anyway, it was ok. I should have copied it, I suppose, but the words are planted in my heart, so I don’t think I have to add more papers to my ever growing pile of memorabilia.

Also, using words and handwriting from friends in collage projects like these gives them an extra charge of love and connectedness. Every time I go in the shop, every time someone admires the lamp with its tiny books hanging down, Annet willl get a little shot of ‘applause’ right back again!!

Happy Blues

I’ve added a new medallion brooch to the NEW WORK and SHOP page, see list at right.

Also, for Dutch readers, there is a course flyer in Dutch with the new Creative Course program for Warfhuizen. Scroll down the shop page mentioned above and you will see a link 2011 course flyer.

Wearable rainshower

Wearable rainshower

I’ve added a new brooch to my New Work and Shop page (see list at right).

What you Appreciate Appreciates part 2

Feeling lack and tension around money? these thoughts really help.

Continuing on with excerpts from Lynne Twist’s, ‘The Soul of Money’: (once in a while slightly paraphrased)

Our attention enlarges and enriches our experience of whatever is before us. We have the opportunity to direct our attention in the way we relate to money…

When we allow jealousy, envy and resentment  to become the focus of our attention we become jealous, envious and resentful people with our money.

When we direct out attention to creativity, courage, and integrity, we become expressions of those qualities in whatever we do in our interactions with money.

When your attention is on what is lacking and scarce- in your life, in your work, in your family, in your town- then that becomes what you’re about.

That’s the song you sing, the vision you generate. You engage in lack and longing and what’s missing, and you call others to that same experience..If your attention is on problems and breakdowns with money…that is where your consciousness resides…. No matter how much money you have, it won’t be enough. No amount of money will buy you genuine peace of mind.

Yikes, I sure have fallen into that trap lately.

If you are interested in how to climb out of this very common and debilitating state of mind, read on in part 3.

What you appreciate appreciates part 3

Continuing on with excerpts from Lynne Twist’s, ‘The Soul of Money’: How to counteract the downward spiral of , ‘not enough’ when it comes to money.

If your attention is on the capacity you have to sustain yourself and your family, and contribute in a meaningful way to the well-being of others, then your experience of what you have is nourished and it grows. Even in adversity, if you can appreciate your capacity to meet it, learn, and grow from it, then you create value where no one would have imagined it possible.

In the light of your appreciation, your experience of prosperity grows.

We can use our appreciation- our conscious attention and intention- to develop some mastery in the area of money and transform our relationship with money into an open space for growth and freedom. That’s  the truth, I learned it first from people we would call poor. I learned it in places around the world where there is almost no water and no food, and no explanaiton for the fact that people survive at all.

That’s the last excerpt for now. In the book Twist goes on to tell the remarkable story of how one man in a poor village in Bangladesh used his inspiration and ingenuity to change the lives of thousands of in his village and surroundings for the better.

New work featured

I’ve been making a lot of wearable art in the last months, some of it is in my brick shop, some in a local gallery, the rest I have here.

When thinking how to get it out there to more people (what is the fun in keeping it all here?),  I considered opening an Etsy shop; but at last count there were 400,000 little webshops all selling handmade work. So I decided, for now,  to pass, on the huge amount of profiling and networking needed to get noticed there, and focus on a smaller venue.

By posting here I don’t have to limit my  profile to a specific medium. At the moment I’m in the middle of a ‘craft attack’, so my media are fabric, felt, beads and threads. But when that has spent itself, the next wave of creativity might express in a series of oil pastel drawings.

There are several thousand visitors here, so there may be some among you who would enjoy having something handmade by me.
Though I have no name for my shop, I think of it as ‘The Quiet Object’ (from the Krenov article about craft that I posted awhile ago). Neither  myself nor the things I make shout for attention. We put out our truth quietly for those who are open to our ideas and we hope to connect. Krenov speaks of ‘the quiet object in unquiet times’ as being the only really ‘original’ work worth striving for.

So, from time to time I’ll be posting one of my latest pieces on the page ‘New Work and shop’. It close to the top of the list to the right. The first brooch ( you could also remove the pinback and frame the mandala-like design as art) is up now and I love the royal colors and the little wreath of embroidered flowers in the second ring in from the outside.

Readers of this blog will get first pick of new work before it goes into the shop.