December 2003 Inner Diablog

December Joy
An abstract acrylic painting on a blank book cover. December Joy is a reminder that colorful vibrant energy can be found to combat the depressive grayness of short winter days — even if we have to create it ourselves. (© Chris Dunmire, December 2003.)

122703

December Joy
I'll try not to Moanet about the gray skies...

Between the months of December and March, Chicago winters typically bring us cold blustery temperatures and heaps of snow. Winter months also mean less daylight and shorter days — and a notable absence of energetic sunshine.

I'm looking out my back window this very moment at the gray sky sucking the color out of everything around it. My eyes capture an image that leaves me feeling drained and listless inside. What appears to be late afternoon is only 8:40 a.m. The depressive psychology of color couldn't be any more on target then at this very minute.

This time of the year is difficult for many who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and those of us who are affected by what we see and feel in our environments. At this time of the year — after all of the holiday glitter passes by — we can only hope for two things: the end of winter and the arrival of spring.

Not to fear... I'm going to steady myself for the long haul. In fact, I can't wait until a nice significant blizzard of snow comes by — as this year I'm going to make a sculpture worthy of freezing my hands and snapping shots with my digital camera. Might as well make the most of it creatively, right? Meanwhile, acrylic paint will have do the trick and hold me over until that nice pack-able snow comes in.

I present December Joy — an abstract and expressive acrylic cotton pad painting (that's right, no brushes!) on a blank book cover I plan on using for a special project soon. December Joy is a reminder (to me) that colorful vibrant energy can be found to combat the depressive grayness of short winter days. 

Sometimes though, we have to create it ourselves.

122103

The Fun of Doing It Yourself

There is a time for everything, as the Byrds so eloquently quote Ecclesiastes chapter 3 in Turn! Turn! Turn!:

A time to cry;
a time to laugh;
A time to be quiet
A time to speak up;
A time for scattering stones;
A time for gathering stones [together]
A time to hire a professional;
A time to do it yourself...

Okay, so I added in those last two lines, but they are so true! 

Nope, this isn't the story about the time I washed and dried a lined wool skirt instead of taking it to the cleaners (I was 17!). Rather, it's about how much fun it is doing little creative things yourself such as making homemade gifts and creating your own gift packaging for a special friend.

I spent several hours yesterday experimenting with a very cool DIY product that just excites the gills out of me. It's a creative gift packaging concept developed by Janlia Chong (diygiftpackage.com), that allows you to print gift packaging templates on your inkjet or laser printer, piece them together on a sturdy material such as poster board, and fold them into completely novel gift boxes and paper crafts.

The angel above took about an hour to complete, but came out looking very cool. I assembled a couple more templates and wrote a review for this outstanding creative product that you should look at and see how cool it is!

More about DIY Gift Packaging...

121303

That Zany Dr. Seuss

Those strange books written by Dr. Seuss didn't appeal to me as a child. In fact, I can remember avoiding that particular section on the shelf during trips to the library in elementary school. Something about the goofy stories and weird characters scared me off into the direction of the knock-knock books.

7-year-old me: "Knock knock"

Older sibling: :::rolling eyes::: "Who's there?"

7-year-old me: "Ken"

Older sibling: :::quickly vacating the room::: "Ken who?"

7-year-old me: "Ken I tell you more knock-knock jokes?" Guffaw!

I wasn't ready for Dr. Seuss back then. But as an adult in full-creative mode, Dr. Seuss delights me. In fact, a few weeks ago I read Oh, The Places You'll Go! in a waiting room before an appointment. I didn't even mind the grinning glances coming from the reception area as my inner child enjoyed the story and knew there was a life lesson there for me. It was wonderful. I like Seussville too.

The timing of these Seuss events coincides with the release of The Cat in the Hat movie, which hublet and I saw this week. It was entertaining in a Mike Meyers special-effects kind of way, but I still enjoy the books more (and at $7.50 a ticket, I almost want to picket!).

On my next trip to the library I plan on snagging a few more of Dr. Seuss's books off the shelf. Meanwhile, here are some trivial lists I wrote in celebration of the colorful creative stories "Dr. Seuss" has shared with us.

And one more list you simply can't miss...

Dr. Seuss Books I've read as an adult (to-date):

• Thidwick, The Big-Hearted Moose (1948)
• Horton Hears A Who (1954)
• The Cat in the Hat (1957) 
• Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories (1958)
• Bartholomew and the Oobleck (1959) 
• Happy Birthday to You! (1959)
• Green Eggs and Ham (1960)
• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (1960)
• The Sneetches and Other Stories (1961) 
• Hop on Pop (1963)
• Fox in Socks (1965)
• I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew (1965)
• I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today (1969)
• The Lorax (1971)
• There's a Wocket In My Pocket (1974)
• You're Only Old Once! (1986)
• Oh, The Places You'll Go! (1990)

120603

Create Anything @ All!

This past week I had a great urge to visit the local Michaels. I hadn't been there for a good eight months or so and was looking forward to browsing their inventory and picking up a few items I've been needing.

While there I checked out the entire section of craft books covering the wall opposite of the art paper and poster board. Tera Leigh's book on decorative painting was sitting on the shelf along with scores of other how-to arts and crafts books. Several others caught my eye: a book on artful correspondence, a few of Lin Wellford's rock painting books, and some books on mosaic art. After doing the Homer drool, I took a mental note of all I saw for my next trip to the library. (If I had a zillion dollars I would have bought the whole aisle—poster board and all!)

Next, I passed by the Klutz® bookstand. I didn't pass by quickly enough because while the potholder crafting and boondoggle books didn't phase me, the polymer clay book Create Anything with Clay nearly leaped off the shelf into my hands. I'm serious! Who could NOT be taken in by the "free" clay swatches attached to spiral binding and the playful project creations wedged between the covers? Certainly not I. How I wished I had one of Michaels 40% off coupons with me. Nevertheless, into my little red hand basket it went.

In addition to my Klutzy impulse buy, I walked out of the store with several other items: tissue paper, pipe cleaners (you know where that's going, don't you?), glitter, and some black and white polymer clay.

Incidentally, I've never bought and used glitter at home before. But I had a great idea for some gift tags that utilized glue and glitter on the front and thought I'd give it a try.

All that glitters is not gold. It's red, and green, and silver too. After making my cards, there's glitter everywhere. Even on my monitor screen. Today I learned that you simply can't keep glitter confined to a small area even if you're careful. It flakes off of your project and attaches itself to everything you touch afterwards. Oh, and keep kitty away from it too.

That's the glitter curse, of course. But it's all in creative fun, and that's exactly what I had on my shopping trip to Michaels and while making my glitter-ific tag ornaments. They turned out pretty cool, too. See for yourself...

Download My FREE Glitter Gift Tags •