Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

creative

Can You Build A Tin Man?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                 (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Last Friday I had lunch with one of my favorite people, author/editor/buddy www.cindyhiday.com and we met at my favorite Café in the antique shop. This place is my home away from home and I always find treasures and creative ideas which reboot my crafty creative cup. And I get to eat goodies!

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Don’t you just want to hug him? A smile would be nice. He got his heart!

 

Prowling the aisles I came across this amazing Tin Man some talented person made out of cans. Isn’t he adorable? Someone really made this work. Complete with his heart. I had to take his picture. He was on sale, but since I own my very own ruby red slippers, I figured someone else would come along who needed the Tin Man.

That is the fun part of the creative process, you never know where ideas will come from. Who sat around and saw a soup can and thought, “That’s the Tin Man!” Then acted on it and actually built him? Even more fun to ponder is the author who created the Tin Man out of thin air! Imagination rocks.

When you’re going about your week and happen upon some interesting items, give a thought to other ways they might be used. Exercise your imagination. Who knows, you might come up with a Tin Man too!

Got Art Projects?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                        (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Perfection is overrated and a creativity killer. It’s a challenge to ignore all our inner and outer critics and go with our heart. This past sunny Friday I had an afternoon to squander cleaning. Garden or garage? My motto is to do what is bugging me the most and the garage was top on the list.

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Banker box tops, bark pieces and the sun. Old school supplies. Cheap too. 

 

Between the monsoon rains in December and the usual crazy, the garage had become another sad victim of the drop and go syndrome. My goal was to excavate my work bench and tidy the joint. On top of the layers of stuff on the bench were banker box tops full of bark pieces I had picked up at Suttle Lake. Took the trays out on the patio and let them have a final sun shot before bringing them inside to my jewelry workbench.

When I first started gathering these bark pieces on one our trips to Sisters, I thought they might make nice pendants. I used a plastic bag in the car to collect my bark booty. Last September I used an orange Home Depot bucket, I was prepared. Another form of treasure hunting for me.

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Have bark bucket, will travel. Bark booty!

 

Do I have enough pieces of bark now? Probably. Maybe. Do I know what I am going to do with them all? Nope. But I like them. I’ve been playing with different ideas. The first thought to be jewelry pendants is morphing into maybe little bark vignettes on tiny easels. Not sure. And that’s the best part of art projects; we don’t have to know what it will become.

I’ve also been on a glitter buying terror recently too. Combo of a half-price sale and the bark pieces. Bling bark? Whether folks color books, paint, sew, cook, sculpt, weave, woodcraft, garden or put glitter on bark, the creative process is all about not being perfect.

Because imperfect is priceless. Got art projects?

Curiosity Begets Creativity?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                 (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

A couple Sundays ago I dragged, er invited my author buddy Cindy Hiday to go see author Elizabeth Gilbert talk abut her new book “Big Magic – Creative Living Beyond Fear” on her book tour.

My reading copy on the left, I take the dust cover off. My autographed copy on the right which lives on the special signed first editions keeper shelf in my office. Very "Big Magic" indeed.
My reading copy on the left, I take the dust cover off. My autographed copy on the right which lives on the special signed first editions keeper shelf in my office. Very “Big Magic” indeed.

I was so excited to attend even on a Sunday night in downtown Portland. On our way into the theater I saw piles of books. We were each given one. Seventh heaven. I’d already bought the book and had been reading it using pink highlighter and flag tags, but this one was autographed. Yeah!

Listened to Liz read from “Big Magic” and then she answered questions from a huge stack of audience question cards. It was a fun and brilliant evening which ended with everyone singing “Country Roads” with the help of John Denver piped into the theater. Perfect.

It’s so nice to hear an accomplished author speak about creativity as a good thing which everybody has and not some burden guaranteed to drive us all nuts. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book so far.

“(because in the end, creativity is a gift to the creator, not just a gift to the audience).”

“You do not need anybody’s permission to live a creative life.”

“Possessing a creative mind, after all, is something like having a border collie for a pet: It needs to work, or else it will cause you an outrageous amount of trouble.”  

‘If you’re alive, you’re a creative person.”

“I’m talking about living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear.”

That last one really hit me in the brain. Wow. I am a very curious person and I’m never more happy than following some research topic or article down the rabbit hole in search of something new. The act of discovery through curiosity is better than chocolate.

Plus fear sucks, so let’s all bypass it with curiosity. Liz Gilbert rocks! I am reading her book in little bits each night before bed, savoring it like a pint of Rocky Road ice cream. If you’re looking for a good book about the joy of creativity, this book is for you.

“Big Magic” is divided into six parts; Courage, Enchantment, Permission, Persistence, Trust and Divinity. There are topics ranging from road trips to fairy dust. Who can argue with fairy dust? Put it on your wish list for Santa or snap it up now for yourself.

Got curiosity? You’re creative!

Got A House Project In Mind?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                  (Twitter@   WarriorTales)

One of my favorite tv shows is “Rehab Addict” with Nicole Curtis. She’s been rescuing and rehabbing old homes for more than twenty years. It’s the sixth season of her HGTV television show and you can watch it on YouTube. She is a rehabber and an artist. She not only rescues and knows her way around power tools and forklifts, she has an amazing design sense and uncovers each house’s story.

This weekend we have sun and I am going to attempt to downsize my garden pots in the backyard. And maybe even re-wire a lamp. Not sure about the second one; electricity is magic and can kill you, but I saw somebody do it on tv. The last part of that sentence must be the start to a lot of emergency rooms visits. My goal is to be safe.

Got home projects this weekend? Enjoy a quick peek with Nicole and Happy Quirky Friday!