Create Dreams Be You

Saw this at Forever 21 and thought for a little shirt, it spoke volumes...Create: your life is waiting, Dreams: make them come true, Be: who you are, You: can make a difference. 

That paired with my horoscope today and I think I'm finally getting it: If you're struggling with the question of where to go from here, you may feel you're at a turning point, and that some big decision is necessary.  You've tried different ideas for getting ahead, but you may still be perplexed about what direction to take.  You won't have to make that choice, Leo, because the meaning of your life is becoming clearer.  No matter how much you wrestle with your choices, you'll find that a choice is being made for you.  Soon, you'll clearly see where to go next.  Good fortune is unfolding, and you'll be directed toward it if you don't get too caught up in finding an alternate route.

And lastly, a recent fortune cookie: There are times when silence speaks the loudest.

All very contradictory perhaps, but to me it makes sense.  And today I'm working at definitely one of the grandest birthday parties ever and will get to meet the incredible cake genius Sylvia Weinstock!  So, I'm ready: bring it.

Now finalllly to the winner of the 100th post giveaway: Ashley from Domestic Fashionista!  I love her posts about all the beautiful things she makes, cookes and bakes for her home and husband and she gives fabulous parties too!  She even hosted an online Valentine's Day Link Up Party so check out all the participants' awesome creations.  Thanks for entering, Ashley, you inspire me!

Now on to the birthday party...!

Creative Kids

A wonderful author friend of mine has a daughter who has started making "contraptions" as he says: so young and she's already creative.  I've been sort of obsessed with 2 very different movies: Never Let Me Go, based on the amazing novel by Kazuo Ishiguro (author of The Remains of the Day, also a fantastic book and movie).  I read the former on vacation and it blew me away more than any book I've read in such a long time so I'm so excited that the movie releases next month (movie poster above, trailer below):

The children in the novel have a tragic fate ahead of them, but in the meantime they become prolific at creating art: drawings, paintings, sculptures, poetry and more, which they trade at school sales and for which their caretakers select from to create a gallery of sorts, the meaning of which is not clear until very late in the story.  I was interested that there have been several different covers for the different versions of the book.

And then a very different kind of movie: Children of Invention, featuring two adorable, enterprising kids who try to help out their struggling mother by buying a ton of supplies and getting to work on their creations.

Two very different movies to be sure, but I like how the themes are both about kids who are creating something to improve their situations in life, even though one has more dire consequences than the other.

Oh, and there's still time to enter my knit sushi giveaway, drawing is Labor Day, 9/6, so I need to get working!

Inside MSLO

I braved the rain and the first snow of the month to go to the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Holiday Craft Sale.  Martha has been an inspiration to me for years so it was exciting just to walk the halls of the office and peer through the doors.  When the elevators opened on the 9th floor there was a long line that curved around a few corners, but moved quickly and opened onto a large, light-filled room of crafts of all kinds.

I love the possibilities of creativity, seeing how someone else views the world and what they can potentially bring to it. 

I saw a necklace made with the tiniest crochet hook I've ever seen, which made a round no larger than a thumbnail.  I picked up a pretty stuffed animal and admired how soft it was, knowing that it was made of cashmere, but not realizing at first that every figure on the table had been made from cashmere sweaters. 

There was a table where you could make your own gift tags with the Martha paper punches.  I had already bought the scalloped tag punch at Michael's, but I was here for the snowflake shape. 

They were out of the edge punch that could make a whole line of flakes along the side of a page, but I got the alpine snowflake punch and was quite happy with the two garlands I've made so far.