Leona Lane

A NEW JOURNEY // MINIMALIST CRAFTER

Well, I've tried and tried to write this post and just can't seem to get it right. So it's time to just spit it out and hope that I get the point across. Here's the gist... I have too much stuff.

Joe and I keep talking about minimalism, and it has become abundantly clear that my office is in need of the most help this year. In the midst of a conversation, it dawned on me... is there a such thing as a minimalist crafter? And if there is... what would that look like, is that even possible, or is it a total oxymoron? 

As with many other things, it was helpful to think about what a minimalist crafter is not. It's not an over-stuffed craft room, just filled to the gills with a wide variety of stuff that is rarely used. It's also not a stark white room with all black furniture with zero crafty details or character. It's got to be somewhere in the middle! I think Marij Hessel's office from Enter My Attic is pretty spot on!

So the next question I asked myself, or I imagine you might ask me... is why? Why attempt this? Well, for one, I enjoy creating and making things. And I feel like the current state of my office hinders that, not helps it. Often I'll grab a few things and work on a project while watching TV or in the living room. Or pack a small bag to go craft at a friend's house - and what I noticed is that the limitation of choices actually feels very freeing. So less stuff seems like a good thing.

I think the ultimate goal would be to not need a craft room. To have less stuff, yet make more. We live in a smallish space now and I already share an office with Joe. But we hope to buy a slightly larger but still smallish house in the eventual future, so space will always be at a premium. But how to start exactly? ...well, obviously I need to a giant purge (which will probably involve a giveaway of some kind! stayed tuned), and the rest, well I'd like to share my progress with you as I start on this journey to becoming a minimalist crafter!

Soooo... what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! And shout out to Marij for having a dreamy minimalist/crafty workspace! 

EASY DIY | SEASONAL EVERGREEN SWAG

I've been eyeing the wreaths and trees in the stores recently because I love the way evergreen trees smell. So fresh and crisp. Plus a little extra greenery to liven up these gray days sounds pretty lovely about now. 

Anyways, when we got home from Spokane on Saturday, our yard was absolutely littered with pine needles, evergreen branches and snow! Despite the fact that it was freezing cold, we were out cleaning up the yard. (Really not a good decision to wait until everything was frozen over...but better late than never. Oops.) I decided to put some of those branches to good use and make a swag for the front door to hang over the little welcome sign.

It was super easy. All you need to make one for yourself is some pine branches, some zip ties and a large ribbon. I gathered the best looking branches from the yard and laid them out until I like the general formation. Some of my branches still had pinecones hanging off of them, bonus points! Then I grabbed a zip-tie and fastened it around the middle. And one more on each side to hold things together a little better. Then simply trimmed off the ends of the zip ties and a few branches that seemed out of place. Then I just loop a ribbon around the middle to cover the messy criss cross of branches in the middle and hung it up!

Pretty easy huh? I love foraging for decorations outside! It's my favorite way to get seasonal decorations for just a few pennies!

PEOPLE I CAN BE CRAZY WITH

Last week, it was like I disappeared off the face of the planet (and I was on such a good roll too). But that's kind of what a long work week does for me, especially when prefaced by a crazy yet epic weekend trip to Portland. But this week, I'm excited to be heading off to Eastern Washington to see my family and do that whole Thanksgiving thing. You know, with the pies and the turkey and stuff? Best of times. My very favorite holiday! Because, so much pie, duh. Well and stuffing, that stuff is pretty rad too. Oh, and pickle roll ups... how could I leave them out.

My family is pretty awesome. I would totally hang out with them, even if we weren't related. And really we're just a bunch of goofballs, we have so much fun together... so when I saw the saying "I love people I can be crazy with" it really resonated with me and I just had to paint it. Because A) so so true. and B) I kind of miss them like crazy. I can hardly remember the last time I got to hang out with my sis. 

So an extra long weekend of pie making, shenanigans, family dinners and all that. Yep, sounds pretty perfect right about now.

If you want your own copy, you can download it here. The dimensions are 2x3 (perfect for a small project life card) but there is enough white space to crop it tighter as well. 

 

PS. For those of you who think procrastination is bad habit... well, you're mostly right, for sure. But it can also, illogically, be a motivator of productivity. While trying to put off writing this post, I fixed the kitchen light, put away all the laundry, cleaned the kitchen, made a batch of green smoothies and updated my 'stats' page. And the day before, when I succeeded in putting off this post, I vacuumed the house, cleaned the bathroom, scrubbed the bathroom floor, had a painting session, made a drying/display area for said paintings, scanned some old recipe cards, cleaned off my desk, changed all the dead lightbulbs, took out the trash and did some laundry. And baked a cake (ok, ok, I'm kidding about the cake...)

A 52 PROJECT WITH PAINTING

Yep, it is the beginning of November, and I've decided to start a 52 Project. Not very timely, eh? But might as well start when the inspiration strikes. No reason to wait around til New Years!!

I've been thinking about a couple different things and after mulling it all over this seems like the best way to pull it all together...

I'm looking for a way to jump start the creative process. I want to encourage myself to get my paintbrush out more often and just start. I've also been wanting to play around with hand lettering and start making some prints to share. So a 52 Project involving painting seemed like a natural fit to meld those things together. 

Since this is supposed to be fun and therapeutic, it definitely won't be too intense. Just playing with paintbrushes, ink and paper once a week! And if the results are decent, scanning it in and sharing it with you guys! I've kind of unofficially decided to start with quotes but I'm excited to see how it will morph as the year goes by.

Technically, I'm already two weeks into the project. You can see the first painting here, and the second one turned into the new header for the blog! 

Any favorites quotes that you think I should play around with for the third painting (or fourth)?

WASHI TAPE TEA LIGHTS

Well for this lovely Wednesday, I have the easiest ever craft to share with you. In fact, I'm not really sure it deserves to be called a craft or a diy. But at any rate these little tea lights are sure cute!

All you need is tea lights inside a metal holder and some washi tape. Just hold the tape straight and wrap it around the metal and trim the end of the tape off. Boom done. You could totally glam them up with sparkly washi or dress them down with grid washi like I did. Mix and match a bunch, or make them all the same.

I love having them in the window by my desk, but I also think they'd be super cute scattered down the middle of a table for a dinner party. Or leave one in a clear votive in the bathroom when guests are over. 

Ikea has the cheapest tea lights I've ever seen, and they actually burn really evenly too! But if you don't have an Ikea nearby, you can find tealights on Amazon too (of course).