“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

I have been accused of loving 'my' knitting, scrapbooking, crafting
more than anything in the whole world.
The truth is
I love being busy.
I love color.
I love using my hands.
(used to play the piano)
I love creating somehing uniquely mine.
I love baking too.
But that doesn't last for eternity.
(Except on my hips.)
I love the idea that I might make something that could become an hierloom.
Imagine my great great great granchild wondering who I was.
Or possibly identifying with her namesake...
(now I'm getting carried away!)
The truth is I love to create.
Period.
I'm working on a sweater for myself.
It will be fun to see how it comes out
being that I'm not using a pattern.
The colors are totally me.
Hope I finish it before it gets cold here.

“Every day is an opportunity to be creative – the canvas is your mind, the brushes and colours are your thoughts and feelings, the panorama is your story, the complete picture is a work of art called, ‘my life’. Be careful what you put on the canvas of your mind today – it matters.” — Innerspace

I got this in the mail the other day.
I love that the school took the time out to send a picture of the artist and art to Bubbies all across the world.
It hangs on my fridg.
(painted black with chalk paint.
for another post.)

....and I'm also working on these two projects...

This will be an afghan I am commissioned to do for a client!

This will be an afghan I am doing for myself.

So there you have it.
Keeping busy.
How do you keep yourself occupied?
remember...

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.
Earl Nightingale

Great News!

A few months ago I got a call from my DD.
"Ma open your email".
I ran to the computor while I kept her on the phone.
She was laughing and crying at the same time as I whooped in happiness.
THIS is what scrapbooking is for.
Isn't this the most wonderful way to break such awesome news!!!

So here we are months later with the most precious gift Hashem in his goodness bestowed upon us.
I immediately started knitting a beautiful little package to wrap this wonderful present in.
White is the perfect color for any newborn.
I found this luxurious pattern on RAVELRY and got to work.
I used the most delicious soft silky yarn.
With every stitch I knit I thanked Hashem for his infinite goodness in my life....

 

(Don't you all want to learn how to knit now?)

My beautiful little grandaughter is named after my grandmother.

 

 

I was very close to my grandmother.

I was fortunate to spend 7 wonderful years with her here in Miami Beach.

Her 'joi de vivre' was contageous.

She taught me alot about what it means to be happy.

Amazingly at 72 she began to paint.

Her "golden hands",

her eye for colour and composition

united with her irrepressible exuberance 

produced scenes of Jewish life which touched the viewer

with the simplicity and authenticity of her perception.

She composed poetry in Yiddish

which was published in Jewish newspapers.

Eventually my grandmother self published a little book of all her poems.

What is most impressive to me is no matter how involved she was in her creativity

(and she burnt many a pot as she painted the hours away...)

to her a day without an act of charity was impossible.

She loved people and used her upbeat personality to raise funds.

She carefully collected and saved enough money to put a down payment for a Yeshiva in Montreal.

She found joy in everything she did.

I remember one time we were going out to a gathering.

She asked me to put a little blush and lipstick on her.

She said "I know noone is looking at me, but still..."

She oftentimes told me she feels so young but her body is betraying her!

 

 

 

 

My grandmother would have appreciated the many talents of my children.

I wish....

Never mind.

It is when I scrapook these precious pictures of the past

that I come to appreciate what my Grandparents meant to me.

I am so grateful for this meaningful hobby.

My life is enriched by it.

 

 

 

 



“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things” – Ray Bradbury

I've been missing these kids alot!
So much that I've actually been inspired to scrapbook a layout.
You know I love doing this.
ALOT!
But I have no special place to unload all my stuff and....
Wait - I've already whined about this.
So moving on
I made this layout in anticipation of seeing my girls...
very soon I"H!
I must admit that part of the reason I become so inhibited about my scrapping
is because of all you fantastic, creative, off the charts artistic ladies on the web.
It's a double edged sword for me.
I feel inspired by my favorite scrappers
and then I feel totally intimidated.
I still love what I do.
But it does get to you when you see women who are so beyond talented.
Each page is a work of art.
Truly good enough to hang in a gallery.
And that's when I stop and remind myself it's only about the memories.
That's why I started doing it.
And that's why I continue.
So I am not the fanciest and most knowledgeable girl on all the ways you wonderful ladies get the work done in a way I never could...
But I can do it my way.

I've also been knitting in anticipation of something exciting.
I'll show you what that is very soon...

And most importantly
this week is CHANUKAH.
We started this wonderful tradition in my family when the kids became independent enough to spend their own money.
Each one of us gets a name in the family that remains a secret until Chanukah.
We give that person a gift.
Part of the condition is that as we open our surprise gift we take a short video and send it out for all of us to see.
Being that we are all not in the same city.
It's really a great way to experience Yom tov 'together' without necessarily being together.
Of course the little ones get gifts from each one of us.
This year I got a gift I will cherish forever and always.
My oldest DD ordered my blog in a book.
I am so touched by her thoughtfulness.
She knows me too well.
And she loves me so good!
I'll show it to you guys when I get it.

And here's a moment of my weekend that was so nice...

 

 

It's only when I see the picture that I process what I feet at the time...

 

Love you Shlam

  

Vincent Van Gogh

 

“The most thoroughly wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed.”

I love comic strips.
I used to get the paper every morning and that's the first place I would go to.
To be a comic artist you have to be
super talented
smart,
funny,
knowledgable,
and lucky enough to get published.
The other day I picked a book off my shelf and looked at it again with newfound respect.
The first time I read it was many years ago.
Too young to appreciate most of the advice give by the incomparable RABBI TWERSKY.
But now that I have more life experience
I can appreciate and understand the message of his wisdom.
What's so great about this book for me is the marriage of comic strip genius
CHARLES M.SHULZ
and
ABRAHAM J. TWERSKY, M.D.
It doesn't get more brilliant than this.
That's when I realized why I love comic strips so much.
I used to feel embarrased to admit it.
Sounded kind of juvenile.
But when I found this book I knew I was on to something...

I even used a funny little comic to describe my Sarale's addiction at age 12!
It was a cute way to document her 'favorites' .

Nothing fancy.
Yet I'm glad I did this.
Now it's 8 years later...
(BTW my friend Esther told me I could read as many comic strips as I like right here!
So now I have more reason to waste time at the computor.
and loving every minute of it!)

 I especially love MAXINE
 She cracks me up every time.

So there you have it!
Go look for a cute comic strip that you relate to and LOL.
Not a text LOL.
A real laugh out loud belly laugh.