Scissors, Soul, and Searching

Scissors: Who would have ever thought that such a simple, little invention could bring us such joy, engage our imagination, and steal hours and hours of contentment that may serve no other purpose than to feed our soul and escape our daily grind of reality. Particular seasons in our lives, that reality can be sometimes, well, just unbearable. 

But the quiet calmness of the "snip" and slow and careful cutting along the edges, allow us for a moment, to cut away some harsh realities and create a fresh beginning. 

Whether it is paper, fabric, cardboard, wallpaper, wrapping paper, newsprint, card stock, burlap, a pattern, a photo, a paper sack, a flower stem, a fuzzy pipe cleaner, or just about any number of things that a pair of sharp scissors can cut, we somehow get that little bit of joy from the very first snip.

That first, fresh cut is our invitation to start anew. To begin again. To try  just one more time....and besides, no one is looking and we have only ourselves to please. And when life gets hard (and it can get pretty crappy, I don't have to tell you that)  it is our creativity that comes out and saves us from ourselves. Creating helps us to breath easier and it helps us feel like we belong somewhere...

And this is where I would like to take a moment and introduce to you someone very special to me ....and even to you. See that button to the right on my blog? The one that announces that I will be attending The Creative Connection Event? I hope you have clicked on it and checked it out by now, and if not, then please do! In case you don't know what I am referring to, here is the button:

Click Here!

Jo Packham, co-founder and creator/editor of Where Women Create and Where Women Cook is the creative soul behind this fabulous event, The Creative Connection Event, or TCC. 

Jo Packham, Publisher, Friend, Co-Founder of  The Creative Connection Event
Creator and Editor in Chief of WWCreate and WWCook

Most of you know I have been very honored to have been featured in both publications (see my side bar of my blog) and have also worked as a photographer for both publications featuring other artists as well. I am also going to be in the upcoming issue of Where Women Cook in a regular feature called Art Bar and below is a sneak peek photo:

But back to The Creative Connection Event (TCC) and the person I admire so much: Jo Packham. In several upcoming posts I will be highlighting some of the most fabulous artists and panelists that will be teaching and speaking at this event (September 15 -17) and I really encourage you to check out the website and read all the wonderful classes and events - one will be an autograph party - which I will be in attendance signing the latest issue of Where Women Cook - as well as assisting with the event - I can't wait! The TCC site has all the details!

But what makes this event so unique and special is that it culminates what Jo has worked and created for almost 30 years. She inspires and encourages women artists/crafters/foodies to take their talents and passions to a level they never really dreamed of. She inspires us little people, who craft after working all day, on our dining room tables, or only on weekends when we are abled. She is REALLY and TRULY proud of us and she wants us to know that creating is truly good for the soul and how much SHE admires YOU. She has told me many times  how she is just amazed over and over again with all that she sees with just us "regular" people.  

It is someone like Jo, who views people like us, who craft, blog, create, cook, and who sees our passion, can connect with us. She doesn't "poo-poo" our time spent doing these things as time wasted, she understands us because she is one of us. She was WAY AHEAD of the game years ago, way before HGTV, way before the Internet, way before Facebook, way before it was cool to be a "book scrapper"....she was the "oddball" 25 years ago for actually taking women seriously who seriously loved to craft. And her positive attitude about our passion affected us all. In more ways than you could imagine.

And while I will go into way more details about TCC, Jo, my involvement (and some neat news as well) in the next post, (as well as a contest!) for now, I want to begin my TCC series with a letter that Jo received from a woman in which this woman expressed just how much Jo's publications and how creating saved her during a very painful time in her life.

If you are not one to really read blogs, but rather just look for pretty pictures, I ask you this one time, if you could, to PLEASE stop and take a moment to read the following, heart-wrenching letter. My throat got so tight, I thought I couldn't breath for a moment. 

This letter says it all. Jo passed it on to those of us working with TCC to remind us all why we work so hard to provide such events as The Creative Connection Event - because creating and connecting is a lifeblood and it is in our soul.

The following letter that was sent to Jo by a fellow creative soul. It touched my soul deeply. I wanted to share it with you because if you are visiting my blog it is likely you were searching for either some inspiration, or something beautiful, or a little encouragement, or maybe just not to feel so alone. This letter does all those things and more. This letter connects us all so beautifully - and that is what Jo does with The Creative Connection Event...she connects us, our passion, our talent, and our souls... 

Thank you for allowing me to share this letter. It is long, but so worth the reading...


The next post, I will introduce you to some the most interesting people you will ever meet...but wait...you can meet them in person! You can sign up to go to TCC and stop by and say "hello" to me (I would LOVE that!) while taking some cool, (super cool really) classes and listen to great speakers and even pitch an idea or a book or a design to a publisher....more on the next post. (And I haven't forgotten about updating you on other things as well...so much to do!)


For now...the heartfelt letter that brought tears to my eyes and made my heart swell with pride to be a part of the creative world....and a part of your world as well...

6-24-11

Dear Jo,

Things have a funny way of working out...so that is the reason I am writing this letter to you...

I recently gave a talk at a Women's Spring Brunch, in which I talked about your inspiring magazine and what it had done for me....

I received a lot of wonderful feedback, but most of it was wanting to know more about your magazine and was I going to write to you and let you know my story.

So, here it is... I do have a story and I wanted to share it with you...

I have included a copy of the talk I gave, but here is the background information so you can fully understand it.

On June 9^th, 2010 we buried our 20 year old son, Ethan who fought an epic battle with cancer. He was and is a 'rockstar' in our opinion... he taught us so much about life and how to make every day count. This was his third battle with cancer; the first two took place when he was just three years old.

That shifty disease came back when he was 19 and on top of the world. You would think that he would be angry and feel cheated, but not so.... Ethan told me that he had lived a wonderful life.

Our family of seven faced this battle united, with lots of support from family and dear, dear friends. Ethan felt that the Lord was either going to heal him here on earth or in Heaven and he was okay with either way.

We had the most amazing, cheerful and colorful funeral (no black allowed). We celebrated a life well lived!

My story however, is about healing. My story is about how beauty and creativity play an essential role in the healing process.

Your beautiful magazine is so full of life and encouraging words... one cannot help but to be touched in a deep interior way... page after page of eye candy, story after story of encouraging one another... what a thoughtful and refreshing concept!

Thank you for helping me in the healing process... I just thought you would like to know that if this is what you are trying to accomplish, you have done a great job, indeed.

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Best regards and many blessings,

Nancy Mills

Here is what I shared at the Spring Brunch:

This sharing is about possibilities, opportunities and about simple beginnings...

This sharing is about God The Father, as the Master Creator, The Master Artist who made all the animals on the earth, all the fishes in the sea, the snow caped mountains, the green hills, all the stars in the sky...

He is responsible for every single color that we appreciate in the flowers, the trees, the fruit we eat...

It was He who invented beauty, the concept of it, the glory of it...

It was God who knew that humans would so need His beauty...

It was His beauty that would bring us back around to Him...

God knew that women would love beauty... He knew that we would revel in its magnificence... that our hearts would respond to it and that there could actually be healing in it...

After Ethan died, I was just so incredibly sad... nothing seemed to be able to touch it...

I tried to pray it away

I tried to sleep it away

I tried running away

and although all those things helped a great deal... I still had this enormous gaping hole in my heart.

In my misery, I cried out to the Lord to send me a lifeline... and do you know what... He did it...

my lifeline was not just one thing... it was actually several things...

It was daily Mass.

It was 'front porch' girlfriends not excepting my “Oscar” quality acting skills,with me saying... “Oh yea yea... I'm doing just fine”...

My lifeline also came in the form of a brand new magazine on the market called “Where Women Create”.

My sweet sister, Monica, just on a whim, sent it to me, cuz she thought I would like it...

And finally the last lifeline happened to come in a random conversation I had with a dear friend...she said the most simplest thing, but it was as if she had a megaphone pointed right at my ear... We were conversing on facebook and I was asking what she was up to and she said, “oh, it's a crafting day”... she said “you know, I'm always the happiest when I'm making something”.

I sat there and looked at my computer screen for the longest time...

I remember thinking... “Oh,Ethan has been hard at work, I see... he's been working on getting his mamas heart healed...

You see, Ethan loved artsy-fartsy things... He was my biggest fan when it came to making things or trying new techniques... he knew I loved creating stuff...

… so I said good-bye to my friend, turned off my computer and just sat a while...

I started piecing things together and saw that this whole thing was beginning to make sense...

I said, “Okay, Lord... I'm beginning to get the picture... (No pun intended)...but, am I understanding you correctly... that you intend to heal me through stickers, and tape, and paper, and scissors, and glue and paint”? I mean, who am I to question You... but really?... :)

So, I got up, went to my craft cupboard and decided it was time to unpack a few things...

The first thing I saw was that magazine that my sister, Monica sent me... I figured now was as good a time as any to sit down and enjoy it...

I opened it up and to my extreme delight, it was filled with beautiful, inspirational pictures of artists, their work, their stories and the places where they create...

I was overjoyed with what I was seeing...

My heart, at that very moment, started to fill up, started to heal... I was actually happy... really happy... I remember saying to myself... wow... this is awesome!”

As I read all the Artists stories... I realized that their stories were really not that different from mine...

It seems that sorrow, grieving, and sadness must find a way to exit the body... and it seems that there are all sorts of ways for those emotions to do this...

what happened next really took me by surprise...

I started crying...

You need to understand that during my life, I was never much of a crier...I just didn't do it... I remember that I never cried at all when Ethan had his first fight with cancer at age three...and over the last year of Ethan's life, I was too busy being brave and strong for Ethan and everyone else... so no crying then...

As I was reading this magazine,which was so full of beauty and inspiration, the floodgates opened and I wept for hours... I cried about everything I could remember, for every single little thing I could think of... when no more tears would come, I was so exhausted that I slept for the entire rest of the day.

Beauty and emotions are related... one effects the other..

since then... I think I have cried every single day... I allow the tears to come as they may... so be it...

So,as the sorrow and grief were finding their way out … the desire to create was finding its way in...

I kept saying to myself... “what on earth am I going to make?... what is it going to look like?... is it going to be dark and morose?... ugly and sad?... pitiful and pathetic?...”

I decided to be brave, to explore the possibilities and to simply...begin....

what came out of me was amazing... it was bright, beautiful, cheerful, happy, positive...

there were moments that my eyes were just watching what my heart was telling my hand to do... I felt like my hand and heart knew how to paint, but my brain didn't.... it was an amazing experience...

it was then that I started feeling the warm, peaceful, quiet, healing process and it was wonderful.

The thing that I had in common with those artists in the magazine was that “something”, some issue, situation or experience in their lives brought them to a point that they must create something. It was a restlessness in their spirit or a small voice telling them that it was time... they felt compelled to create and in doing so... helped the Master Creator heal what needed healing in their lives.

Creativity encourages happiness and happiness encourages healing.

When you create, you feel calmer, happier, more reflective , more in a position to heal.

I know it was the Holy Spirit, guiding me.

I know it was Ethan's prayers... so wanting his mama peaceful and happy again...

In preparing for this sharing, I found this quote...

"When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the doors of our souls fly open and love steps forth to heal everything in sight”.

In closing...

Is your spirit sad like mine was?

Are you experiencing a restlessness deep inside you?

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?

Is He calling to you?

What matters most is that you listen,that you pay attention to that small quiet voice deep within you and then simply... begin....

May this day be the day your spirit is lifted and you find a pair of scissors and just simply begin...

From my house to your house, 

Amazingly Simple

I know I don't have to ask you if you ever found yourself just running and your list of projects just keep growing. That is part of our blog world, I believe. And sometimes, I think when we visit each other, we not only get validation that we are not the only ones that are running around with our heads cut off by reading each others' blogs...but then guess what happens? 

We get even more inspired and motivated by reading each other blogs and just keep adding to our already long list of projects! It is sort of like going to a yard sale and seeing everyone else's junk all over the yard and sighing a sigh of relief that you aren't the only one with so much crap in your basement, and as you sigh, you are buying up more crap from the yard sale! But of course, we tell ourselves,  this isn't crap...it is going to be useful for that project "someday." But who cares? It is recycling! And someone gets to make a buck, and we have fun while buying crap...ahem...recycling. 

See that bowl of string? I just snapped that photo quickly today and downloaded it about 10PM, I think. I am in the middle of about seven, yes, SEVEN projects that all came at once and with short deadlines. And I pushed aside some string and this bowl and tossed them inside to get them out of the way, and I shot it quickly just to test some light and my white balance before I began shooting a project (which has nothing to do with the bowl of string). I forgot I even shot this photo until I just now downloaded the photos and saw it. 

As I looked at the photo of piled up string, some of it tangled, I realized just how pooped I am and how much I feel like that bowl of string right now. Don't get me wrong...I am very happy with all my projects and when I get a breather I will share and in a moment, I will quickly show a little of what I have been up to in the recent past that I haven't even had time to share yet - and those aren't even part of the current seven projects. 

But back to the string. As most of you know by now, I love string, yarn, paper, burlap and textiles. But I believe a bowl of string is just about as lovely as it can get, no matter how tattered or how neatly it looks. String has so many uses and yet, it is so basic. And when piled together, for some reason, it looks amazing. It is amazingly simple. 

And that is how life can be at times: Amazingly simple. 

Sometimes, I have a way of just getting in my own way. I get all excited and happy, and then worried how am I ever going to do it all or get it all done. And yet, for years and years, I have done it, have done it well, and loved it. So, why do I continue to worry when life has a way of piling things up all at once now and again? I wish I could space out nicely all the wonderful projects and line them up only one a month, but life doesn't work that way in this field. Feast and famine at times. And sometimes, (rarely) it can be steady. 

But, every single time, it works out. And every single time, life turns out to be amazingly simple. And I am always amazed by it. And amazed by Jesus, who is always there to untangle everything for me and how God continues to give me challenges (even if all at once at times)and shows me how amazing life is and how simple it can be, even in the most complicated of times.

So, I am going to try to hunt down a few pics on my computer to show you quickly what I have been up to, and will explain it all later...I have a very early morning tomorrow and lots of work. I will tell you that I am very busy doing a lot of shooting, writing, cooking, traveling, designing for clients, and painting. I have some big travel plans in the future that I am VERY excited tell you about and I am in the middle of a living room make-over that I am just not having any time to do....you know the saying...the cobbler's kids have no shoes...

Until next time, I am wishing you all a very amazingly simple summer!

Sorry friends...I am pooped, so the photos are simple and small...with little explanations - until next time!

Colors for our living room....

Working in PJ's today....what am I doing now??

What am I up to here????

Don't even try to guess....

Yes! I have a studio!  Temp for now, but it is a working studio that I  haven't spent a lot of time in, but will soon!

My studio in the making....

Painting/sanding a kitchen...in my studio!

My tool room

Kitchen before...

You will have to wait until I get a moment to hunt down the after photos! Ahhhh! I can't find them on this computer and they must be on my file card still and I am too pooped to download them. Sorry!  But it turned out great - the client loved it.  I know, I know, very lame...no pics.

More photos and words next time...or maybe less words, and more photos?

from my house to your house,

Frosting on the Cake

Welcome! Welcome!


I hope this winter hasn't left you too frozen for those who have had the winter blast as we have had here in St. Louis! Ice, snow, and wind greeted our new year and decided to extend its greeting all the way into February!


On our first big blast of winter, instead of staying inside with warm drinks and a blanket, my barber husband and I headed out, to our beloved Forest Park for a few quick pics and we spotted this frozen pine, completely covered in ice. 


It was mother nature at her best. Trying not to slip on the ice, and trying to hold the camera still, as I shivered and shield the lens from the tiny bits of blowing ice, I managed to snap a few. Here a couple for you...and then on with some news...

But I digress...What I would really like to do catch you up on a few things. Last December was fun as I got to go to NYC to participate in Where Women Cook's premier issue's book signing - which was a blast! It was held at Chelsea Market, a great place that I wish I could have spent tons of time in! I can't believe all the times I have been in NYC and I have been only blocks away, and never stopped in! 




But before I get going with all that I do want to thank Jo Packham and Loralee Choate for featuring me this week on Where Women Cook's website as one of the women in the premier issue. This site features one woman a week who appeared in the book and you get to learn a little about them, their history, a new recipe, tips, and lots of photography!

Just when you think you knew all about me, I have my bio up that deals with my love for cooking. Most don't know that I have a love for cooking and always have since I was very little. So, if you want to read a little about my cook side and growing up with a mom who really didn't cook well, click on Where Women Cook and discover lots of recipes and tips! As you can see below, we weren't starving, but we didn't sit long at the table either, enjoying a big tasty meal by the looks of our skinny legs! Below is a sneak peek at what is to come this week! You have to watch the website all week to get the recipe, tips and more!  :-)

Left to right: Bill 4, Me 5,  Louisa 7, Andrew 9 (Poor Andrew, Mom could never keep up with his growth and we don't have one picture where his pants didn't look like the dryer got the best of them....)

Now, back to NYC, the book signing and Chelsea Market...thanks for letting me squeeze in the "commercial announcement" but I got a feeling I will be gabbing a while and most of you will poop out, and click off (don't blame you) before I get to the WWC website that is currently up this week!

The Chelsea Market was the National Biscuit Company in the 1890's and now it is home to independent vendors of food, breads, wines and small restaurants! I was in such a rush, and only had a chance to take only a few photos as I had my weekend crammed with lots of fun things. But below are a few photos..

I was fascinated by the industrial interiors and this elevator!

And then I walked past this window!  Bread making company! Wouldn't love to just steal the bread sacks!

I was in a rush because I was meeting one of my bloggers for the first time - this blogger I love because she is so devoted and always leaves me comments and I am SO BAD when it comes to names, and yes, believe it or not, when you comment, I will click on your site because when I see your name, I think....hmmmm....now who is Oprah again? And go click on her name again to see who she is again....okay...not that Oprah ever clicks on my site, nor that I would need to click on her site to remind me, but seriously, I really need to click on people's name to remind me. 


So, all these years, poor Claudia, faithfully writes me beautiful comments, and all these years, I still click on her site when she comments and as I do, I am thinking, Claudia? Claudia?... and as SOON as I click on her site, I ALWAYS get a big smile and then I literally say out loud to myself...OH! CLAUDIA WITH THE BLUE GLASSES!  I JUST LOVE HER! I swear, I do that every single time and if you look below, you will see why I love her....every time I see her photo, no matter what mood I am in, I smile at her in her blue glasses!

This is my favorite photo (from her blog) of Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage

And so she lives an hour or two outside of NYC and took a bus to the city just to meet me and I was so flattered! And I felt like we have known each other forever! We talked and talked and the time went by way too fast. She loves dogs, big time, just like me. Has a background in theater, like me, and I think, we probably would have never ran out of things to talk about. She loves to take photos (very creative and she has a house in a really cool town) and you really need to her blog, which is super cool, and please tell her I sent you. I was heart broken when I got home and finally had time to down load my NYC photos only just recently could not find one photo of us together! I was shocked, actually. 


Actually, I had very few photos at all with all the rushing. I know Claudia and I tried several times to get someone to take out photo together but everyone was buzzing around, it didn't happen and I didn't discover that until just recently. That is the one thing I will say that I don't like about being a photographer, it is pretty darn hard to get my own photograph taken with people. I didn't get one photo of me with Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman) or even Jo Packham! I do remember trying to hand my camera off to someone, but it is very hard to get someone to snap a big camera or to get someone who will at least try to take a good one. The few that I did get are blurry!


UPDATE (FEB 23rd): Claudia wrote to me and emailed a photo that she had taken with her camera! Yeah Claudia!  So, here we are at Chelsea Market:

Isn't Claudia beautiful? I love her hair and who would have guessed such dramatic features behind those blue glasses were waiting to pop out? (I still love the blue glasses.) Thank you Claudia for sending me the photo!

But here are some photos that I took and the ones of me, my friend, Bob, my NYC friend from my college days, who is also a playwright, came to the rescue and snapped a few when he came to pick me up (I had to leave early) so we could drive down to Philly and see the premier of his reading of his play he wrote about Deborah Franklin (Ben Franklin's wife).

Vintage aprons everywhere!

The line was forming when I showed up and it was fun when the ladies turned and recognized me. Something I had not even thought and what a nice surprise. Made me feel like a mini celebrity for one afternoon!

Setting up the room

I am so glad Bob caught these photos.

I got to sit between Mamma Agata of Italy and Suzy Eaten !

The line was still around the corner when I had to leave!

Right after the signing, Bob and I drove three hours to Philly to hear his reading of his play and then attend a special event held in his honor afterwards. I forgot to mention to you that the night before, Bob had asked me to read for him with another actress from a different play he wrote for his play writing class in NYC. It was on off broadway, so technically, I could say that I have yes, "performed" in a play on Off Broadway! Bob told me later that they were impressed that he "carted in" a real Southerner to play the role he wrote. Haha.


While in Philly, we stayed with Bob's friend, Mark, who is an artist and art teacher who also happened to create the dioramas for the Brandywine museum's latest exhibit. The museum is owned by the DuPont family. Mark, also as a hobby, works with the DuPonts and their horses carriages and is friends with a DuPont family member. So after viewing Mark's art exhibit, he, Bob and I went to a tree trimming party at one of the DuPont estates and viewed the carriage house before it got dark. I didn't take my camera into the home, but I did snap a few quick pics of the horse carriages - I didn't use a flash, but I did get some photos:

These are the lanterns that go on the carriages   

Mark and Bob behind Mark's house

The house where Mark lives on the third floor, in Oxford PA

It was my birthday weekend in NYC, and it was busy and rushed, but what a fun weekend it was. My barber husband had surprised me by sending me to NYC for my present. He had no idea that it was weekend that was about to be filled with so much excitement. Bob and I go back to our college days and I was in his very first play he ever wrote. And now, many years later - I won't say how many - here I am, reading for him again, and seeing his first commissioned play being read professionally in Philly. And now here he is, taking photos of people lined up, waiting for me to sign a book that I am in, all in NYC. Bob had said this was not a coincidence that these two milestones happened on the same weekend. And we got to top it off by attending a tree trimming party at a DuPont estate - not bad way to celebrate....


....but actually....my favorite part? Was the grocery store cake that Mark and Bob bought and brought into my room and we all ate it in bed for breakfast and celebrated all of our artistic accomplishments: my book signing, Bob's reading, Mark's exhibit and mainly, friends celebrating with laughter on a cold, rainy day, in PJ's, in a drafty attic apartment. It wasn't quite the DuPont estate, but it was very grand indeed.

From my house to your house