by lisa occhipinti

{from The Repurposed Library} This clever storage box is an ideal way for sewers to stash away all their little tools.  Special compartments keep needles, spools, bobbins, seam rippers, and measuring tapes organized, and a built-in pincushion adds a plush touch. A book on the subject of sewing is ideal for this project, but any book will do. This box can be used to stash other crafting and stationery tools, as well—think about the tools you use regularly and customize the compartments to suit your needs.

Materials

Hardcover book (ring binder optional)
Note: If you would like to store spools of
thread, you’ll need a book at least 2″ thick.
A ring binder helps create extra compart‑
ments but is not necessary to complete the
project.

12″ x 12″ sheet of decorative paper, to line the
inside cover (optional)

4′ length of 2″‑ 6″ wide, ⅛”‑thick balsa wood

Acrylic paint (to coordinate with book)

An old sewing pattern, to line the compart‑
ments

⅛ yard cotton fabric (to coordinate with book)

Fiberfill

Tools

Craft knife

Cutting mat

White glue and glue brush

Pencil

Metal ruler

Glue gun and glue sticks

Toothpicks

Awl (for books with ring binder only)

Thin yarn and upholstery needle (for books
with ring binder only)

1. Remove Book Block: Using a craft knife and following the instructions on page 13, remove the book block and set aside.

2. Cover Inside of Book (Optional): I chose not to re‑cover the endpapers of the book shown here, as they featured a great photo. If you like, re‑cover your endpapers following the instructions on page 15.

3. Measure and Mark Compartments: On the inside back cover of the book, use a ruler and pencil to measure and mark ⅛” from all four edges. This rectangle will be the outer perimeter of the storage box.

Divide the height of the box into thirds and mark these measurements with pencil. Then divide the upper row and lower rows into thirds, again marking these with pencil (Figure A).

To determine the depth of the “walls,” measure the width of the book’s spine and subtract ⅛”.

4. Create Outer Box: With the craft knife and ruler, cut four strips of balsa: two strips measuring the height of the book by the depth of the “walls”; two strips measuring the width of the book by the depth of the “wall”. (Note: If your book has binder rings, extend the width of the walls past the rings to the inside of the spine, so that the rings are also encased within the balsa walls; see photo on page 23.)

Beginning with the left side wall (the one closest to and parallel to the spine), run hot glue along the bottom edge of the balsa strip and press along the pencil line. Hold in place while the glue sets.

Glue the other outer walls the same way (Figure B). If the wood fits together too snugly, trim the balsa to fit. To strengthen the corners, add a drop of hot glue and push it into the corners with a toothpick.

For books with binder rings only: Use an awl to pierce two holes in the wall closest to the binder rings, aligning the holes with the top ring and bottom ring. Thread an upholstery needle with yarn and draw the needle through a hole and around the binder ring three times. Knot the ends of the yarn on the outside of the compartments. Repeat at the other end of the spine. For extra strength, add a drop‑ let of hot glue over each knot.

5. Assemble Compartments: Measure across the box, from wall to wall. With the craft knife and ruler, cut two strips of balsa wood measuring the box width by the depth of the “walls” (Figure C). Hot glue the balsa strips into place along the pencil lines and allow to set.

Measure the distance between the top of the box and the dividing wall below it; then measure the distance between the bottom of the box and the dividing wall just above it (these should be the same measurement). With craft knife and ruler, cut four strips of balsa measuring the length of the compartment by the depth

6. Decorate Compartments: Paint the top edges of each compartment using acrylic paint and a small brush. Allow to  dry before closing the cover of the book.

Cut four pieces from the sewing pattern paper to cover the exterior walls of the box. Brush glue onto the exterior balsa wall and cover with a coordinating piece of pattern paper, smoothing into place with your fingers. Repeat for all 4 outer walls. Note: If you are using a book with binder rings, you will only cover the top, bottom, and outer walls.

7. Make Pincushion: Measure the dimensions of one of the inner compartments. Cut a square of cotton fabric 2 ½ times this size. Fold the fabric into quadrants. Then cut an arc along the two open sides. Open the fabric circle. Leaving a 3″ tail and beginning on the right side of the fabric, stitch around the circumference of the circle, about ¼” in from the edge and end at the right side of the fabric. Remove the needle from the thread and pull both thread tails to gather the fabric into a round pouch. Don’t cinch completely closed—through a small opening, stuff the pouch with fiberfill, being sure not to make it too dense. Pull the thread tails and knot the ends. Hot glue the cushion into its compartment with the knotted side down.

you may download the full instructions, including helpful project diagrams, right here!  to make this project even juicier, win a copy of The Repurposed Library and enjoy many other gorgeous and inspiring projects, all created from reclaimed books. to enter, leave a comment on this post and one random winner will be chosen on monday, september 5th.  thank you lisa, for this fabulous project and opportunity… good luck everyone!

Lisa Occhipinti is a painter, book artist and author based in Venice, CA. In addition to studio work, she teaches workshops, including an upcoming one with Ace Camps, and privately online. In addition to writing The Repurposed Library her work has also been included in Papercraft. Her work is in private and corporate collections worldwide and can also be found here. Her small wares can be browsed on her etsy store, ShopHouse. Feel free to say hello anytime: lisa.shophouse@gmail.com

by jen lee

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i bought a fresh moleskine recently and it sits on my desk as a little wrapped gift of possibility.  my latest journal is not quite filled, but soon it will be time to crack the new on open.  my writing has been happening in spurts, pouring out of me at times and dry and motionless others.  i’m just accepting it as it comes.

as the season heads to make a turn i’m filled with thoughts about the immediate future, projects in the works, a new schedule and to embrace and all the changes in between, big and small.  i’m not quite ready to let go of summer and the slower less demanding pace, and i haven’t yet felt that boost the cool autumn air always gives me.  i love fall energy!   so in the interim i’ve decided to hold loosely to some wishes, corral them and make a list to see what emerges and get ready for some of them to gain real traction in the coming weeks.  sweet anticipation.

here is a slice of my running wish list:

* a solid, working, nurturing fall schedule
* host a couple of fab RAW nights
* a smooth transition to school (3rd grade, preschool, and administratively for my hubby)
* for the next phase of wishstudio.com to come into focus (change is coming!)
* finally get a professional headshot taken with a fab photog
* and shoot my fave hot pink chair on the beach (even though the neighbors will look at me strangely when i carry it down the street)
* a fun and successful fall wishBIG ecamp (details coming this week!)
* knit something cozy
* lots of yoga
* live into my co-op dreams and connect with more creative peeps face to face
* paint the first floor walls and get rid of the sallow green color i’ve always hated
* design a year quilt (inspired by this podcast), to begin when i turn 40

see the rest of my list, here…

Read more >>

we are popping the champagne and officially beginning the celebration with christine on her upcoming book release this fall!  i couldn’t be more thrilled and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy as i’ll be featured between the pages along with many other shining creatives.  you can join the book’s fan page on facebook to hear the latest buzz on all the launch excitement, here.  i’m incredibly honored and grateful to have been a part of this heart-filled project and ridiculously excited to see it emerge into the world!  yay swirly!!! i can smell the freshly printed pages already…ahhh.

here’s the yummy description of the book:  In Desire to Inspire by christine mason miller, readers will be introduced to twenty extraordinary women – writers, artists and entrepreneurs – all of whom share a unique example of how they create a meaningful life and, in turn, make a positive impact on the world. The stories and examples explore the roots of their desire to inspire and how they manage to pursue their passions in the midst of all the twists and turns life has given them. In addition to a beautiful collection of quotes, stories, and anecdotes, readers are given substantive, encouraging exercises aimed at supporting their own journey towards a meaningful, mindful life.

pre-order your copy on amazon today, just in time for the holidays!  i know what i’ll be gifting this year ;)

by kim mcmechan

In April, I bought seedlings.

I don’t know what I was thinking, really.  Life’s too full right now for a vegetable garden. I’m in school, and then there was the tour and the driving back and forth to the coast to teach workshops and, in late July, a week of recording with the album grant that finally came through.

When was I going to find time to care for a garden? And who exactly was supposed to water it?

But I bought them anyway, because if you want the truth, my favorite part of gardening is not the actual garden.  See, the actual garden itself never goes as well as I think it will. I always imagine clean, neat rows, the peas staked tidily on their chicken wire, the tomatoes held up symmetrically in their metal cages, the cucumbers meandering lazily through the basil and the bell peppers.

What actually happens is the chicken wire gets blown crooked before May even hits.  But when I go to fix it, I realize I can’t because the peas have already started to climb up and by fixing the chicken wire, I risk tearing them out.  In June, the tomato leaves go brown from rain (or is it heat?  I never know which), the lettuce comes too early and goes to seed before it occurs to me it’s time to eat it, and the tomatoes shade the peppers so they don’t do much at all.  By August, a rainstorm has trampled everything.  I re-stake what I can.  The tomatoes finally ripen—just in time for a week away.  I find yellowish, water-logged cucumbers in late August.  And of course, there’s always too many weeds.

But that point right before you plant a garden?  When the seedlings are newly purchased and they’re lined up along the windowsills?  That’s the part I love.  Because I can imagine. I can imagine a garden that looks like the ones in my mother-in-law’ Country Home Magazine, or even the one in the old lady’s yard at the end of the block—lush, towering tomato plants and pumpkins as round as bicycle tires.

The seedlings whisper:  Possibility.  Potential.

Granted, I didn’t buy many things; a few peppers, a half dozen tomatoes, a pot of basil, some spearmint and four sunflowers.

The spring was cold, and June was rainy.  Not wanting to risk late frost, I waited to plant the seedlings.

And then, for some reason, I just kept waiting.  My classes got busy. The tour kicked in.  My kids finished school for the summer and things got a little blurry after that.

Which is why, in mid-August, I now find myself watering the seedlings, which are still in my windowsill.

Two of the sunflowers have bloomed, tiny decrepit flowers. A few of the peppers have small, white flowers on them, and sometimes if I think of it, I put them out on the front steps so the bees can find them.  The mint looks dry and is pushing through the bottom of its container.  A few things wilted while I was away.

It occurred to me the other day:  These seedlings are seriously stunted. They were never meant to stay here, in my windowsill.

Any other time, I might just pass this incident off as proof of my scatter-brained-ness.  I’m always losing my keys, leaving teacups on the roof of my car to smash to smithereens on the road behind me, always forgetting to return phone calls and pay parking tickets.

But it just so happens that this little seedling incident coincides with my own creative summer, so-to-speak.

Moving into a more productive and visible creative life, so much is blooming for me.  But I am also experiencing more messiness than I would like.  With deadlines pressing in, I’m longing for the old empty, spacious time where nothing needs doing.  Busy with the ‘bigger’ things I worked so long for, I find myself missing the smallness of my old life.

But looking at the seedlings still in their containers in the windowsill, it occurs to me that no matter how messy things feel right now, the mess, I believe, is better.  It means life and growth, expansion and fruitfulness.  It’s clear I’m going to have to get out the pruning shears now, maybe learn how to stake things up a little better.  But instead of turning back, like I might have in the past, I GOT it.  I got the message that life was trying to send me.  And I feel totally up for it.

And so, I find myself, again, as always, needing to choose faith over fear in order to move on into my life.

Thank you Mindy and Wishstudio for letting me share at this very special online space. It has been a pleasure to be a part of this beautiful community of creatives.  I’ll still be blogging over at my website if you want to keep in touch.

xox

by amber morris

by connie hozvicka

I got a funny story to tell you.

When I was an itty bitty, my grandfather had this idea.  No, it was more like a plan.

His plan was that I would become a huge country western singer playing the Grand Ole Opry and doing whatever else huge country western singers do.

So he signed me up for guitar lessons twice a week–and eventually someone gave me an organ and I was playing that as well.

(Are organs a part of country western music?)

Anyways, after school, I would finish my homework and then belt out Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, and The Judds.  My grandfather even purchased me my own microphone and I was hammin’  it up big time in the living room.  My brother–he was the lighting guy–and used my mom’s light up make-up mirror for special effect.

But eventually middle school hit–and my grandfather’s plan didn’t jive with keeping up with the middle school status quo–so I went from learning old school country to classic rock.  We’re talking Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix.  My guitar teacher went from conservative, button down, pressed shirts–to long haired rocker with holes in his jeans and stinking of funny cigarettes.

I was in heaven.

In seventh grade my absolute all time favorite song to play on the guitar was Sweet Leaf by Black Sabbath.

Sweet Leaf.

And, that year I got to play it live at my Catholic middle school talent show.

Sweet Leaf, I said.

Yeah.

But the coolest thing is that I went all the way.  I wore my stoned washed jeans jacket over my Catholic school uniform, had my bangs all curled and perfectly in place with Aqua Net, and I painted a picture of a guitar that the art teacher so supportively placed on an easel next to me.

There I was, playing Sweet Leaf in the Catholic middle school talent show.  All the way baby.  All the way.

Now maybe this story is simply funny because how many people would admit that their grandfather had plans to make them the next Dolly Parton–or that, yes, they were a victim of too much Aqua Net?  But for me, it’s a different kind of funny.

It’s funny because I totally forgot about this.

Totally.

Until just a few weeks ago when I attended a week long retreat in CA to fully immerse myself in kirtan music.

Kirtan music is a far cry from the hills of Tennessee or the likings of anything Ozzy.  Kirtan music is basically a bunch of tree huggin, yoga lovin, hippie dippies sitting around chanting sanskrit.  But I love it.

So that’s why I went.  And honestly, it was one of those things that part of me wondered “what will I ever do with this stuff”.  But I still went anyways–because the pull was so strong.

And right smack in the middle of chanting to Shiva on the second day this image of me playing Sweet Leaf came rushing back. Followed by images of me playing in my grandfather’s living room, all the guitar lessons, the books I learned from, the teachers I loved and hated, even the different guitar picks I played with throughout the years.  All these old memories of years and years of having music as a big part of my life came swirling around me like Hindu Gods and Goddesses.

I remembered! I remembered!

I remembered an important part–not just of growing up–but of my soul.  My spirit.  My creativity.

I remembered the one thing that around 18 years old I decided to say good bye to because it didn’t seem practical–responsible–or even possible to pursue.  I remembered the dreams that my grandfather had for me–and the dreams that I had for myself–and the dreams that Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and Wyonna Judd would sing about.  I remembered a big part of myself.  I remembered hammin’ it up and joy.

I remembered incredible, incredible joy.

And here’s the thing–we all have memories laying dormant inside ourselves.  We all have moments and dreams and passions that seemed to slip away.

But they’re there.  We’re still there even.

Just listen.  Just listen to those things that call you–that ask for attention–that itch at you to be explored.  And let yourself be surprised….life has an amazing way of repeating itself again and again until we receive the message.

{a little view from my studio :: inspired by susannah’s august break
and my current obsession with apartment therapy}

happy weekend everyone!

To One Lucky WINNER…

one (1 ) piece 16” x 20” rolled canvas print

with 2-inch border or No border

from UPrinting.com

Cotton-blend Canvas: Thick, high quality artist canvas with a matte finish. Poly-cotton blend makes this canvas ultra durable.  1 day turnaround and free shipping.  (Restriction: Limited to *US residents 18+ years.  no previous UPrinting prize winners may win.)

*****

win this beautiful art canvas printed with your own photograph or art! (check out UPrinting.com’s  other great products as well)!  to enter, leave a comment on this post sharing one of your favorite memory making ideas or inspirations by monday, august 15th, and one winner will be chosen.  good luck!

***congrats, michelle c… you are the winner!  please email me your mailing addy to claim your prize!***

by michelle ensminger

by carolyn rubenstein

1. It’s okay to struggle, it’s okay to wear (and own) your imperfections, and to fall flat on your face – as long as you keep reaching out for support and maintaining the courage to put one foot in front of the other.
2. Actions speak louder than words.
3. Learn to say no as much as you say yes. Less is more. Replace “Could I do more?” with “Would I like to do more?”.
4. Mistakes are powerful gifts. Don’t leave the lessons within them concealed – gently unwrap a mistake to gain the wisdom within its rough exterior.
5. Ask why before you ask how. Intention is required to create your compass.
6. Action deflates fear – always.
7. Recycle. Don’t fix what’s not broken. Reuse what’s worked before.
8. Trust your intuition. Resist second-guessing.
9. “Success” cannot be defined by others or even put into the hands of others for evaluation. If left unguarded, your success could be taken away at any moment. If you equate success with your intrinsic worth (even subconsciously), then you will be left broken apart.
10. Be more proactive and less reactive – to better align your reality with your vision.
11. Attempting to avoid negative events and situations proves an exercise in futility – negative things happen to everyone.  However, adversity can often provide an opportunity to strengthen character, deepen emotional fortitude, and increase your overall sense of self and self-worth.  These life lessons can only come when you decide to channel through difficult circumstances while relying on the gift of embracing self-empowerment.
12. Time and energy are not equal. Improve their interaction by learning their unique characteristics.
13. Don’t get stuck within the details. Whisper to yourself the words of Terri St. Cloud: She could never go back and make some of the details pretty. All she could do was move forward and make the whole beautiful.
14. Remember to breathe.
15. By acknowledging when you don’t know the answers and shed light on your vulnerabilities, you are creating space for your authentic self to live wholeheartedly and courageously.  We learn the most about ourselves from the moments in which we let down our guard and admit, “I don’t know all the answers. I am uncertain and that’s okay. How can I transform this experience from one of self-doubt to one of self-compassion?”
16. When the journey gets tough, remember the words of Margaret Thatcher: You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.
17. Gratitude is the greatest gift you can give to another human being.
18. Greatness is never achieved. It is something you must intrinsically bestow upon yourself.

Carolyn Rubenstein, author of Perseverance: True Voices of Cancer Survivors (How Young People Turn Fear into Hope and How They Can Teach Us To Do The Same); non-profit organization founder; authenticity advocate; Huffington Post and Psychology Today blogger; believer in resilience, gratitude and respect; and graduate student.

by kate swoboda

by rachel awes

winner #1… four days a week

winner #2… carissa paige

rachel graciously chose not 1, but 2 lucky winners… congratulations!  and thank you all for sharing your beautiful words.

i’ve heard from alot of people these days that their energy is ebbing.  the hot summer days have dried up the creative juices a bit and there is a need more down time.  i’ve been feeling this a little too, yet i also feel the oncoming pressure of fall coming right around the corner.  sometimes it is so hard to just stay in the moment.  there is also a measure of guilt we load ourselves down with if we miss a blog post, don’t write in our journals, don’t get our photos uploaded to flickr, miss a class, need some alone time, or step out of the creative lives for a little break.  it is summer afterall, and we all need a little vacation every now and then.

so give yourself permission!

veg out.  watch project runway.  sit on the beach.  join our great summer blog read. read fluffy fiction.  take photos just for the sake of capturing the moment and not for a specific project (join susannah’s august break!)… see, lots of us are feeling this need to slow down.  no apologies necessary.

it might even help to set the intention to simply just be in a place of gathering. down shift your energy purposefully. you can compile an inspiration file for later use by tucking away bits of inspiration from your trips, magazines you read, and little bite-sized thoughts that float across your sky during these last days of summer.  don’t feel like you have to do anything. this might help to open up the space for your creative energy just to flow, and then when you’re ready to create you will have a whole pile of things to dive in to.

have faith, that time will come.