Having a bit of work to turn your hand to, a bit of sewing or art that you can take up easily, can slow time down, can slow you down enough to notice the everyday wonder of your life.
Handwork creates a contemplative space–our bodies are still, our minds occupied with the work. And then something magical can happen. We can follow the threads of our disjointed thinking. We can mull over that line of poetry that just won’t leave us alone. We can join in the ongoing conversation about what we are reading.
Coloring
This is the ultimate easy start-up handwork. Just print a page and off you go! It takes time to lay down color. And that’s a very good thing. My favorite place to find things to color is Paper Dali. Vee’s strong lines and her deep love of mamas and babies just makes my heart sing.
Hand-lettering
All the rage these days! For the most part I don’t have the patience to practice. When I sit down to write I have to much to say to worry about how they look on the page. But maybe that’s a clue. I need an actual project to work on. Hand-Lettering for a Latte is far and away the best resource I’ve found. Good instruction and a very reasonable price.
Embroidery
It’s just about time to pull out our Jesse Tree Embroidery project. My girl and I started work on these last year with no expectation that we’d do one each day or finish in time for Christmas. Every day spent with a little focused work is a good one! The patterns that Nancy has created are beautiful and the directions are simple and complete. Felt is very forgiving and the small size of these projects makes it easy to finish an ornament.
very pretty–pretty girl
I think that you may have just hooked me on the embroidery project to do with Greta. It would be a “simple” sewing project that I might actually be able to do! Thank you!
You will not be disappointed in Nancy’s instructions/patterns. There’s a really lovely, graphic quality to her work. Highly recommended!