New York City Texture

  I love looking at texture in the world around me here's some I found in New York City.

To see more click on this photo.

   

Make A Funny Bookmark

Old Lady Bookmark

First gather the supplies:

Chickpeas for the heads

cardboard from the back of a old note pad 

A small black and pink felt pen 

And a woven ribbon about 7 inches long 

This ribbon was found at an estate sale 

Interesting ribbons can be found at paper stores and fabric stores.

Fabric Glue or Weldbond Glue

A cute trim for under the neck or just tie a bow with small ribbon.

                                                        1) Cut the cardboard as shown above.

2) Then look at your chickpea and find the nose and draw a little pink circle under the nose.

 Now draw another about an 1/8 of an inch lower down for the mouth. Then draw the eyes on the sides in black and glue your head to the cardboard. (Note how the mouth is facing upwards.)                                                                        

                  3) Glue the cardboard with the head on it to the top of the ribbon about an 1/8" down.
                                          4) Now fold over both corners to hide the cardboard.
                                5) Take the excess at the top of the ribbon and with glue on your fingers
                                                                twist it into little horns.
                                                 6) Add a little trim detail under the chin.
                                    7)  Finish by pulling some threads from the bottom in order to make a nice
                                                          fringe or cut with a pinking shear.

Carousel Horse race

I found this funny improv that takes place in Bryant Park, Manhattan. I thought it'd make you smile.

My Winter Garden

Each year after the holiday lights are down the winter gets very dark for me. One of the ways I brighten my days is by building a winter garden in my kitchen. Each time I go grocery shopping I buy a primrose, daffodil or hyacinth. I keep them by my kitchen sink. I enjoy their cheerful shapes and colors. When they are done blooming I move them to my garden where they then bloom for years to come.

The Happy Secret to Better Work

Have you ever heard of Ted Talks? It's a great website that has many wonderful speakers talking about lots  of different topics. 

This one is "The Happy Secret to Better Work." The speaker is Shawn Achor. He studies happiness and how to achieve it. Did you know your brain can be tricked into feeling happy by just smiling, the act of smiling sends a message to the brain and tells it your happy. He talks about that in his Happiness Advantage series. If you have 12 minutes this video could make a difference in your life. 

Chanel Cruise 2013

If Marie Antoinette held court today this is what I imagine the courtiers would be wearing. This fashion show is in the Palace of  Versailles gardens as seen above.

From my Sketchbook

I try to sketch every night it helps me relax. I thought every once in awhile I would share some  of them with you. 

Three Chicks

Frank

A Walk in Manhattan

I took a beautiful walk last fall in Manhattan. It's such a fun city with so much diversity, color, shape and texture.

Bryant Park has changed so much since I lived and worked in Manhattan. When I worked in the garment district in the 1980's you couldn't walk past it for fear of getting mugged or being hit by a stray bullet. Now it has games, places to eat, and a carousel. It's lots of fun. And, of course, Fashion Week is set up here.

              It's so relaxing and beautiful now. People are really enjoying this metamorphosis.

                This park is on the actual street.  It is lined with heavy pots to keep the traffic in line.

How Do You Count A Lifetime

Seasons of Love, a song from the Broadway show Rent, is one of my favorite songs. I think of it often because the theme in the song is “how do you count a lifetime?”  Is it by sunsets or by cups of coffee or is it by love.

How do you count a life time? What do you value?

For me its:

Hugs and kisses

I love yous

Special moments with friends, family, and strangers

Smiles

Laughter

I’m sure we all have a similar list. I think the truth comes into our lives when we make our choices, how much effort we put into making these moments happen, how well we live these moments when they arrive. How often do we step back and reanalyze our lives to make sure we are living the life we want and not the one that just seems to develop?

 Life moves so fast and gets so full that sometimes we just forget to take the time to stop and see what we can remove in order to make more time for what we want, to just be present with the ones we love. I’m always thankful when something wakes me up and makes me once again take notice so I can reevaluate. A New Year for me is one of these times.

  

Mute Button

               Sometimes the holiday season can just get too loud and stressful. Laughter always helps.

I hope you're having a great holiday season. Don't stop laughing.

A Timeless Necklace

I had a jeweler friend of mine named Anne Poulson make this necklace for me out of old watches I have gathered through out my life and the watches I inherited from my grandmothers.  All of the watches were broken. (I had tried to get them fixed but the watch maker couldn't do it) and I didn't want to toss them away.

.

I love how the necklace turned out and every time I wear it, it is a hit.

If you'd like to have one made you can contact Anne at  awpoulson@comcast.net.

Paper Doll

This is a fun and interesting video called Paper Doll by Cindy Sherman done in 1975.

Happy New Year!

 I hope you have a great year! Thanks for following my Blog.