Creativity Blast Writing Wednesday Prompt - Opposite Day. I keep thinking of the character in "Pollyanna", the crotchety invalid who refused to play the Glad Game. Eventually Pollyanna wore her down, by bringing her all three special treats when she usually had only one, and always complained that she would have preferred another. Other kinds of  "opposite day" stories - Robert Downey Jr gave quite a darling, deeply ironic, acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards a couple of years ago, when he didn't have anyone to thank. "What am I gonna do? Thank Joel Silver, the guy that's only restarted my career about 12 times since I began it 25 years ago?"  So anyway, here's a short, short story. Mitzi refuses to be grateful. It was a luscious morning. But Mitzi just blinked slowly at the clear, blue sky and sniffed. She wasn't grateful. She didn't have to make her own breakfast. She never had to prepare any of her own meals. ...

Ways to Bring Pantone Color of the Year 2013 - Emerald - into your life. Emerald - vivid, strong, evocative of luxury as all gemstone colors are, richer and bluer than Kelly Green but certainly not approaching Teal - we can be sure of one thing: this is not a neutral. One of the great things about Emerald is that it's trans-seasonal. That makes it very versatile, and it can slot right in to the other color stories and trends throughout the year. I've created a Pinterest Board where you will find examples of Emerald in home decor, personal style and beauty, and accessories, gathered from all over throughout 2013. Meanwhile here are some DIY ways to add a touch of emerald luciousness to your life. 1. Makeup I've never been one to use a lot of bright colors in my eyeshadow, instead favoring warm browns, greys and deep purples. But a touch of emerald on my lids works great with my hazel eyes, and enhances most eye colors and skin t...

Here's just a taste. Keep your eyes open for the next newsletter from Life Media. My latest "Crafting for a Greener World" column is a tutorial for making a prim style standing doll that could be a tree topper or holiday decor - with almost endless possibilities for variation. It will be up on the Natural Life Magazine website very soon. I'd love to hear your comments, and most of all see your versions of this doll made from recycled materials! You can send them to the magazine, or send me a link here, in the comments below.

I've just been writing up my next column for Natural Life Magazine's website - the first of the "Dear Abby for Junk" series. I'm answering questions about old slides and old Christmas cards, both with something of a timely holiday slant. It's going to be so fun. You'll be able to check out the finished projects and instructions soon. But in the meantime, from a couple of years ago, here are the downloadable templates to make a recycled cereal box village. (What if you used old Christmas cards instead of cereal boxes??.......) Keep those crafty stash dilemmas coming!

Making, Mothering, Musing - Creative Writing and Writings about Creativity. Information about upcoming projects, my writing activities and assorted wordy stuff about living an artistic life and parenting at the same time. So far all I've done is transfer some old blog posts and articles from Imagination Tribe on Ning, which is soon to be disbanded in favor of Facebook. But it may be new to some of you.

It has now been almost two years since I started this blog, and a little longer since I began my art doll and crafting business. The picture is one of my earliest dolls. I have to say that I enjoy blogging immensely, still love making art dolls and textile based artwork, but I'm not really satisfied with the progress of my business. Rather than resolutions, I am spending today quantifying and recording the goals and aspirations that have been flowing swirling around in my mind over the last couple of weeks. In terms of Iggy Jingles Crafts, I have these goals for 2010: *To send out at least 6 newsletters. (You can opt in by filling out your email addy in the box - Mac users, email me if the box is obscured.) *To enter at least 2 national contests. I'm pretty sure one will be the Hoffman Challenge. *To submit two articles or projects to relevant publications. (Not counting my regular column with Natural Life - which I love doing and gives me so much satisfaction.) *To curate my ...

The new issue of Natural Life Magazine is out, and my column is about alternatives to buying new paper for gift wrapping. There is limited space in the magazine for pictures, so here are some more pics of the projects I've been working on for the article, and my gift wrapping.

I was distressed by this news from Wikipedia today, and moved to write a Hub .I sat at my computer with tears pouring down my face as I typed. So that's what I've been doing today.