Inspired by Kris (Collage Contessa), I’ve joined her Creative Vibrations to fill the month of June with creativity, which I’ll be blogging along with her and with several others in a related project titled “30 Days of Creativity.” Some of what I create will be shared here (& on Flickr & Twitter & on & on), but some of what I’m hoping to do is like the project above–it’s not a thing I made or even particularly love, it’s just me, playing in the studio, making marks and having fun. Courting my creativity or the muse, if you will, with just the sheer habit of showing up and doing something. It will be lots of fun for me (I hope!), but not always something spectacular to look at.

Having said that, if you’re inspired to join us and want a burst of creativity in your month or just an excuse to play, I hope you’ll join us!

And, at least for me, habits require record keeping, temperature checks to see how I’m doing. So I whooped out one of my many bookmaking guides and made one of the simplest books I’ve never made:  a stitched pamphlet with only one signature. It came as no surprise to me that I had whizzed past this style of book, anxious to make other more interesting or complex creations, but, as this project shows, the simple pamphlet book also has its place!

One of my closest friends is a book conservator which, in turn, has given her the skills to make kick-ass handmade books. This is one of the beautiful books she’s gifted to me.

I have a love for ephemera, for odds and ends, and, when these objects follow me home, they invariably end up in these metal slide organizers where they wait to inspire a bit of artwork or a journal page. Not much of what I collect/organize gets attractive containers like this (I see so many studios with glass jars, but I think my cats would enjoy redecorating with those too much!), so I’m extra appreciative of the aesthetic appeal of the old slide organizers.

What would you give someone you loved if it might be the last gift you gave to them? My mother chose this silver bracelet with the inscription “BLESS THIS WOMAN” inside to give to me for my 28th birthday. She died 292 days later. If I could, I’d wear this bracelet every day but, unfortunately, it has a bit of a weak spot/crack and now I worry that the whole thing could fall apart.

I don’t allow myself many collections, but I do gather these pressed pennies on my various travels and adventures. They seem like some a piece of Americana, I was quite surprised to also find them in Europe and, as a result, have pennies from the London Dungeon and Dublin Zoo among the collection. I also have a a coin I hammered myself at the Jorvik Viking Centre!

The other collection I must own up to: books. We have bookshelves of art books, of cooking books, of gaming books and, of course, fiction and other types of nonfiction. I regularly try to whittle down, but have to acknowledge my short comings every time we move, people express shock at the number of boxes labeled “BOOKS—HEAVY!!”

If you aren’t familiar with Dawn or her blog, maybe your familiar with her Art Journal Fridays or the crazy inspirational 1000 Artist Journal Pages.

If you sign up, leave a note in the comments so we can follow each other’s progress during the project!

I’ve never been particularly taken with the idea of new year’s resolutions, though I’m sure I made them at some point in my life. Committing to improving myself is something I do year round, and I regularly revise my ideal version of myself—so doing something specific to January 1st doesn’t really appeal to me.

When I read Christine Kane’s blog post about forgoing resolutions in favor of a word/theme for your new year, however, something about the idea felt very right to me.

Several years ago, my friend Kathy and I decided that, instead of making resolutions, we would pick a word that would guide us throughout the year. It would be our touchstone. It would remind us of living our lives at the BE level.
(Learn more about this idea and read the hundreds of examples in the comments on Christine’s blog.)

Looking back on previous years, I realized there were these themes carrying through, even without me naming them. In 2006, I repeatedly said I was trying to move through the world with a word I had used infrequently in my life to date—grace. Last year, I rediscovered the place for joy in my life. Throughout the year, I could feel those words on a physical level, as real as a penny in my pocket or the ripples in a pond.

I thought deeply about what I wanted more of in my life, in what manner I wanted to approach and greet the world, how I wished to interact with others, and what would get the most out of my year.

I decided I want to bring more passion into how I approach life and its opportunities and I want to be more consciously compassionate toward others. Both of these words very strongly agree with the woman I want to be, who I hope to be closer to over the next twelve months.

• What do the words passion and compassion signify to you? What can you do to bring more of these qualities into your life?
• Do you have a resolution/word of the year/other new year’s tradition? I’d love to hear about it.