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Hello All,

Are you ready for Spring? I sure am. With the new puppies, we are particularly grateful for the warmer weather and the ability to spend more time outdoors. But of course, with spring comes all the outdoor chores that require time and attention. It is still a little bit early here in Colorado for major outside work so I have a little time for paper crafting and Easter decorating.

Before we get started with today’s craft project, it is week seven of “The Artist Way” and this week’s Chapter is titled “Recovering a sense of Connection”. Just to bring any new folks up to speed I am writing a few thoughts each week on one chapter at a time, from this book by Julia Cameron. It is a book about being more creative and there is much more depth in each chapter so if you are interested in working through the 12-week course I highly recommend getting a copy of her book. For my purposes here I am selecting one item from each chapter to focus on for the week, as sort of a mini review. If you would like to catch up on previous chapters I will provide links at the bottom of this post as well as links to purchase Julia’s book and the items that were used to make todays projects.

Getting back to this week’s Chapter title you might think that the “Connection” is with other people but Julia is actually referring to being connected to our creativity. She talks about the importance of listening, in this case to our inner voice. Each chapter is filled with activities and exercises to help drum-up useful tidbits from our past that help direct our future. The topics covered in this chapter are; Listening, Perfectionism, Risk and Jealousy

As you might imagine there is a wealth of information just in this one Chapter, but the part that stood out the most for me was her thoughts on Jealousy. She writes that “Jealousy is a map.”

It helps to connect us with what we want, in this case with what we want from our creative lives. The author suggests this activity. It is a simple activity with three columns. The first column is Who. (Who are you jealous of? The second column is Why? And the third column is what the author calls the Action Antidote. In other words, what are you going to do to have the thing you are jealous about?

My first reaction to jealousy is “I am not a jealous person.” I am sure that response comes straight from my childhood where I was taught not to want what other people had. Coveting is a sin. I am a good person, therefore, I can not be jealous. Maybe you think this too. And just like that, we turn off one of the switches that give us access to finding our desires.

I am not suggesting that one should stew and harbor anger toward someone who has something we want. But it is wise, I think, to acknowledge our envious feelings as triggers to help us find the things we hope to create for our own lives. If we listen to that wish and take some action toward it we have benefitted from our feelings of jealousy and if that is the case, then maybe our childhood lesson was wrong. Maybe jealousy is not inherently all bad. It is what we do with that emotion that renders it good or evil.

For example I am shamefully jealous of bloggers with more influence and bigger followings than I have so I guess I had better get on with today’s project. 🙂

For the first part of this project I had some fun experimenting with different items to color my book paper. I ended up using some kool-aid, tumeric and even some alcohol ink to get these six colors.

Then I used the paper to make these bunnies for a garland.

I also glued some eggshells back together and then covered them with the colored book paper using some mod podge.

I don’t usually like all the pastel colors associated with Easter but every time I see my bunny garland hanging on the mantel it makes me smile.

You can find all the details for these projects in this video.

If you would like to get caught up on the Artist Way Re-cap you can find all the links below.

Week One – Recovering a sense of Safety – (With upcycled pie tins made into a twisted valentine tree)

Week Two – Recovering a sense of Identity – (With upcycled found objects candlesticks)

Week Three – Recovering a sense of Power – (With my trashy St Patrick’s Day House Tour)

Week Four – Recovering a sense of Integrity – (With St Patrick’s Day Plastic Bag Bouquet)

Week Five – Recovering a sense of Possibility – (With St Patrick’s Day Mantel Display Part 1)

Week Six – Recovering a sense of Abundance – (With St Patrick’s Day Mantel Nick Nack Crafts Part 2)

Happy Upcycling,

Advertising Disclosure: Upcycle Design Lab may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website.