Snowflakes for Newtown Students

It's Friday afternoon, and it's my very last day of work until January 7th. I'm looking forward to a much needed break! Today we played with glitter and glue and scissors. It's been a somber week for our nation due to the Sandy Hook incident, and our company wanted to do something upbeat for the school children who have been traumatized and displaced. We learned that the Connecticut PTSA is collecting handmade snowflakes to hang at whatever school the students will attend when they return to school. What a cheerful and comforting way to welcome the children back to school! So today iLoveToCreate set up a crafty work station for all our team members to create and decorate snowflakes. With the help of this tutorial and these products, I set out to make my contribution to this most worthy cause.

I didn't want to use plain white paper that was provided so I simple cut up some of my Women's Wear Daily fashion newspapers and experimented with different cuts to see what I'd end up with. Because the paper is so thin, I spray mounted the snowflakes onto a sheet of Ink Jet transparency film and cut broadly around the snowflake shape. A hole punch on top with a festive ribbon tied through it makes hanging these snowflakes easy. Lastly, I brushed on Aleene's Tacky Glue here and there on my snowflake, and then sprinkled on lots and lots of glitter. I wrote of message of encouragement on the back of my snowflake so the children will feel our love and know that they are not alone.

Mad Hatter Christmas

Last Friday we had our company Christmas party and every year we have a contest of some sort. Two years ago it was creating a fabulous handmade ornament. Last year's contest was a competition to see who could wear the tackiest Christmas sweater. This year, it was all about donning the most creative, over-the-top hat. Well I didn't have time or money to deal with this challenge, but I have a great friend who apparently has a bin full of crazy head toppers. I stopped by her house on the night before our party to see if she had anything festive I could borrow. Sure enough, I found several that I knew would be perfect for me and my besties at work who also happened to be struggling to find something. My borrowed hat even won a prize! Thanks, Jonica!

Wish List

Happy 12-12-12! Yes, it is December 12, 2012. In the world of numerology, twelve is considered the number of completeness and represents the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. December is the twelfth and final month of the year, every 12 hours day turns to night or night to day and today completes the trice-repeating dates until the next century rolls around.

 

Across cultures and religions three is considered a heavenly number and often represents the soul or Godhead, while four is the number of earth and mankind, as there are four elements (earth, air, fire and water) and four cardinal directions (north, south, east and west). The product of the divine number three and the earthly number four, 12 encompasses both the sacred and secular.

 

Speaking of 12, we are 12 days away from Christmas, and each Christmas I never know what to ask for because I really don't enjoy the commercial aspect of Christmas. My idea of the perfect Christmas is going to church on Christmas Eve, and being home on Christmas day -- surrounded by family, a fire in the fireplace, snow on the ground [never happens where I live, but I can still dream], Christmas music playing or watching my favorite movie, It's A Wonderful Life, and cooking a beautiful meal. Under my tree this year I probably won't find any of these things [for various reasons], but a girl can wish.

  

This Flask Bangle by Cynthia Rowley

 A chubby, snub-nosed pup

 A weekend in a coastal town

 This Tiara ring from Sundance to add to my stack on my left ring finger

This hammered metal coffee table from World Market

Words To Live By

 

Have you ever read Bruce Mau's INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR CHANGE? I stumbled across the list and was really inspired. It's a list of stuff we probably all know deep down but don't always remember to embrace or practice. Here are a few of my favorites:

 

 

1. Allow events to change you.
You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.

 

3. Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.

 

9. Begin anywhere.
John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

 

15. Ask stupid questions.
Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.

 

16. Collaborate.
The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.

 

18. Stay up late.
Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you’re separated from the rest of the world.

 

39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.
Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces — what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference — the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.

And Pantone's Color of the Year is..........EMERALD!

To learn more about this radiant color choice, click here. See the Holiday Look Book featuring Emerald on Pinterest.

All That Glitters . . . Projects For the Holidays

Looking for fabulously stylish projects that will make you sparkle, and that you can make yourself?

 

 

Click here to see more projects like these.

 

 

Karmin, Coach and Rachel Zoe

Just a little early December mood music brought to you from the WhoWhatWear blog.
COACH has partnered with Karmin and Rachel Zoe to bring a fun holiday song and great looks for the season…Karmin’s Amy and Nick put their own twist on “Sleigh Ride” and were styled in Rachel Zoe’s hand-picked looks from COACH‘s Holiday 2012 collection for the music video.

T-Shirt OS - Would You Want One?

The t-shirt, the original canvas of wearable expression, the original 'Like' button... these are great statements about the iconic t-shirt. Check out this promo for t-shirt OS if you want to wear a t-shirt that is the latest platform to express yourself.