What To Do With Boring Brochures

I picked up one of these floor plan/guide/brochure thingys for The National Gallery when we were there last week. The layout is sooooo dull and boring, so I thought I would spruce it up a bit. What do you think?

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Valentine Mobiles and Cards

I love hearts...always have and I can never get enough of them. This year, rather than give cards that will probably eventually get thrown away, I have decided to make them a wee bit more functional.

Since I was a kid I always enjoyed making these dainty paper heart mobiles. Watching them gently turn and twist in a gentle breeze (usually from the radiator) relaxes me...makes me feel all cozy...maybe because they are a wintertime project and usually end up hanging in a window that frames a winter landscape. Usually I make them out of tissue paper but this year I wanted to use the antique atlas index papers that I have lying around. I also have an old London A - Z which came in handy too.

They are quite easy to make. Just cut various shapes of hearts out of a semi-transparent paper. Then with your sewing machine start sewing and gradually add a paper heart as you go along. Be random with them...it looks better when they are all higglety-pigglety. You can use ribbon instead of the actual machine thread too but I have found that they are far more dainty and blowy if you use thread. Then decorate them! Write lovely things on them. Hang them from found objects or simply tape them to the top of a window frame.

Since this is the year of 'Being Your Authentic Self' why not tell my nearest and dearest what it is about their authentic self that I love so much. It's so nice when people remind us that just being 'us' is good. I wish it happened more often.

All my love to All of you!

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Happy Chinese New Year: THE RABBIT

The Rabbit

I am in tune with the

Pulse of the universe.

In my quiet and solitude

I hear the melodies of the soul.

I float above commonplace

Dissent and decay.

I subdue my ability to conform.

I color my word

In delicate pastel hues.

I epitomize harmony and inner peace.

I AM THE RABBIT

By: Theodora Lau from 'The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes'

THE RABBIT year will be full of introspection, relaxation and gentle grace...just what we need after the ferocious Year of the Tiger.

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