Art Trader Magazine is a free publication for those interested in trading art. Even if you aren’t into trading art or cards, you’re sure to find the articles informative and entertaining – I always do!

It’s always a nice surprise when the latest issue is published – you never know what you’ll find in there, so run right over and grab it – it’s free!

I love to get your questions, comments and feedback! Leave them in the comments section here: Art Trader Magazine

I hope you’ll join me as we take this marking of time, the upcoming first day of a brand new year, and use it as an opportunity to start afresh with a brand new blank page and begin writing our story for this year; a story that’s inspiring, creative and meaningful. And of course one that includes lots of cloth and thread.

I’m excited about this new year and I hope you are too.

We will open the book.
Its pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.
Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Beginning where you are
I love the sentiment of that quotation, however as I mentioned in an article I wrote the other day – you can read it here – that although the beginning of a new year is a wonderful time to begin writing your story, you can do it at any time. I got so many lovely emails about the article, and about that particular paragraph, that I made you a downloadable card – a new year’s gift – just so you can remember that you can begin writing your story at any time.

Click here, and the image will open in a new browser page then you can “right click” and save to your desktop (or whatever you do on a mac – sorry, not mac savvy). Print it out, stick it somewhere where you can see it regularly, and enjoy.

Other ways to help you on your new year’s journey

Have you given vision to your year ahead by choosing a word yet?
Using a word is such a gentle and powerful way to carry you through the year because there are no hard and fast resolutions and no “shoulds” or “shouldn’ts”. A word guides with vision and flexibility. Because I believe so strongly in the power of using a word, I even made it easy for you to choose your own word by putting together a free One Word Selection Guide. You can find the download link to the guide here in this article.

Are you organized?
During 2011 I got SO much done and I achieved goals I never thought I would. One of the reasons was because I found a way to plan and use my time effectively (I have exactly the same amount of time as each and every one of you) so for 2012 I designed myself a set of “Vision Your Year” downloadable Day Planner pages in a format just the way I like to use them. If you’re looking for a way to help manage your time you can read the article here and you can find the planners here in the store all ready to download.

And finally – are you ready for some inspiration, education and motivation?
I’ve got a solution for that also!

Although you’ll be able to sign up any time during the year, do you really want to miss out on day one? (I’m so excited, only a couple more sleeps!) Make the decision to stay creatively motivated all year long by becoming a member of The Creative Explorer’s Club – a club like no other and one I designed just for you that will inspire you with small tidbits every day, motivate you with articles, challenges and projects each week, and educate you with artful tutorials every month. You’ll find all the details here.

And finally, during 2012 you can find me right here on the blog
Maybe with a slightly different focus – but always creative with cloth and thread.

I hope each of you enjoys a fabulous beginning to a brand new year!

I love to get your questions, comments and feedback! Leave them in the comments section here: Happy New Year 2012

And on this particular day which is called Black Friday here in the US, being the day after Thanksgiving when all the stores have insane sales, I’m staying safely tucked away at home, avoiding the consumer madness, and catching up on a little sewing.

One of the items I’ll be making is this totally cute Tea Wallet. As a tea lover myself, this strikes me as one of those thoughtful gifts; just perfect for the tea lover in your life.

I’ve just added it to my Free Purse, Bag & Tote website and you can find the listing here.

Happy sewing everyone!

I love to get your questions, comments and feedback! Leave them in the comments section here: Thoughtful gifts

I used a photo of my new grandson Jake, added some photoshop touch ups, then printed it on fabric to make these two different styles.

I kinda like this one.

But I think I like this one the best.

I’m going to use these for organizing stuff in my handbag; they’re just the right size at about 4.1/2″ x 7″. I always worry about using white fabric in or around my handbag (unspeakable things lurk in there) but these are fully washable so I think they’ll be fine. Plus I think I’ll make another couple for family gifts – the perfect weekend project!

I hope you find a little time this weekend for some quick projects. And if you’re looking for some quick sewing projects to use for gifts, I’ve just added a couple of new listings to the Free Purse, Bag & Tote Tutorials website – There’s a wristlet which you can find here, and a couple of small triangular coin purses that are so cute, I think I’m going to have to make some myself! You can find them here.

I love to get your questions, comments and feedback! Leave them in the comments section here: Cuteness alert

For instance, I was recently looking for some inspiration for upcycling a piece of old clothing. I loved the fabric and didn’t want to throw it out, and was in fact kind of inspired by this seller on Etsy who upcycled men’s suits into fabulous bags, purses and accessories.

And this one

And even this one!

While the free tutorials I’ve got listed aren’t quite so detailed or intricate, you can still find some good inspiration. The easiest way to find things is to head over the website, scroll down to the bottom, and pick a tag from the tagcloud.

So clicking on the “upcycled” tag brings up all these listings which is a nice selection to choose from!

If you’re in the mood for a little upcycling, here’s the direct link. Enjoy!

I love to get your questions, comments and feedback! Leave them in the comments section here: Upcycled Purse Tutorials