Ways To Simplify The Season

Thanksgiving used to be so simple. As a kid, you hung out on the couch in your jammies. Watched the Thanksgiving Day parade, then went to relatives and ate good home cooking.

Today's Thanksgiving involves a whole new level of stress like never before. You cook like mad (okay I don't cook I just go to relatives houses and let them cook. I do help with dishes and do my part on the eating end.)
The next day you are already thinking of Christmas shopping. It's just run, run, buy buy, more, more.

So how to simplify Thanksgiving and the season?

1. Slow Down And Plan
Santa makes lists, you make lists. Stopping and planning makes all the difference between rushing around like mad and leads into step 2.

2. Focus On What's Important
Stop and remember what's important about the holiday season and plan around those priorities.

3, Spread It Out
Accomplish your to do list over a period of time instead of in one massive, mad evening.


4. Turn Off The TV

They have teams of people who design ads to get you to buy those things you don't need. They pay billions of dollars to research ways to get people hand over to their hard earned cash happily.  Do yourself a favor and turn the tube off.

5. Be Selective
Choose the activities and traditions that you truly enjoy and bring meaning to your life. Ditch those no longer serve you or fit your life.

For me I will still be working on my art journal, taking long soaks, and listening to music I enjoy. I'll let a few Christmas songs sneak in, but not many.

I'd love to hear from you and how you simplify the season.

                                                                                   

You Have To Show Up-Art Journals

I've been keeping an art journal off and on again for at least 10 years.
Generally I start my journal and then get excited about a new journal. Because of this I have many journals that I have started, and a few that have been completed. It was a pretty exciting moment when I completed a full journal. I worked pretty hard at it to get it done. Somehow, it's just more fun to start than finish. Something about all those pages to fill calls to me, but this year I'm going to be a Closer. My goal is to create an art journal entry every day and finish my current journal by the end of the year,

Last year I discovered the joy of completing a journal. Usually in November I get the hankering to complete a journal so that I start working on new one in time for the New Year.This year the book I am working on completing came from a garage sale. I have two of them. One I began working on a few years ago, and the other is pristine with beautiful white pages just waiting to be filled. They are square with a corrugated cardboard cover and a metal butterfly charm.

Usually I start with the words.  I just pour out all my thoughts, no worries about correctness.  Next is the background. I use acrylics and watercolor crayons. Sometimes I pour the paint directly on the paper and squish them together ink blot style. Then I add collage elements. Some from magazines, some from my own artwork and some from our discarded dictionary prints. The hunt is on for that perfect element that says, "I belong right here."

There's a lot to appreciate about art journals.  I can pick up where I left off at any time. I'm certaintly not perfect. I don't think I could journal every day obsessively. There's an ebb and flow to journaling. Life gets busy and hectic at times. Yet my art journal is always there, a sanctuary from the craziness of life. I gather my thoughts in my journals, harvest recurring themes, and brain dump on occasion.
It bothers me that I'm not able to stick with my journal consistently for long periods of time. But for all that my journal is what remains and what I come back to. I've always kept a journal in some form or fashion, it's just taken a while to complete.

I'm not an expert. I can only share my experience. You don't have to be able to draw to be an art journaller. You don't have to journal everyday to be an art journaller. You just have to show up.

Until next time,

Kim

Launching Of Poster Prints By

Welcome to Poster Prints By Us I'm so glad you stopped by!

Steampunk Ostrich

We're Kim and Larry, the quirky geniuses behind Poster Paper Prints.
In the past we have worn many hats. We've owned a thrift store and a siding business, though not at the same time.

Thrift store are awesome. Owning one is a crafter's dream!

Kim has taught 2nd graders and art. 

Halloween School Party (I don't normally come to work in pajamas!)

Kim has always been dabbling in the arts and Larry has the entrepreneurial spirit, which brought us to our Etsy business.

We create fun, and somewhat wacky dictionary art prints. We have a quirky style that combines old with new. Mixing up vintage illustrations with colorful images gives us much delight and causes the crisp, black illustrations to pop! Our images range from classic vintage to contemporary pop culture with some of my own art work for good measure.
We also create the favorites like Alice In Wonderland Prints, the Wizard of Oz, and Edgar Allan Poe with a Twist.

 Steampunked Edgar Allan Poe

What you'll find in this blog:

• I'll be writing about all the things that bring inspiration. 

• My one great dream is to create a beautiful, colorful, house filled with my own art work and handmade crafts. I love taking thrift store finds and upcycling them into something new. So I will feature DIY Projects, art projects, and art journaling tips. The dream is to make youtube tutorials, but that is for later.

• There is so much talent out there. It is very interesting to discover the creative process that artists undergo to create their magic and I'd love to share that with you in interviews with Etsy artists. Picking their brains for business tips wouldn't hurt either.

• Exclusive Deals on our dictionary art prints. Check out our blog for news and exclusive deals that you can only get here.

• Vintage Graphics   We have a huge collection of vintage illustrations. It seems a shame to keep them to ourselves. So we will share them here.

Until next time,

Kim