A Semi-Serious Post about Something Near & Dear to my Heart

Hi all!  So I’ve totally got a celeb crush on Ed Sheeran.  And after recently hearing one of his latest songs, “Love Afire,” I fell even more in love with his music!  If you haven't heard this song already, I would definitely recommend that you check it out!

As some of you may know, I used to work as an art therapist with patients who have dementia.  As an art therapist, I used art-making activities and prompts to help patients with dementia work through issues by giving them opportunities to express themselves creatively.  Creative and non-verbal expression is really important for people with dementia because many of them lose the ability to show their emotions through words.  Getting to work with this population was such an honor, and some of the artwork that these residents were capable of creating was simply amazing.  I wish I could show you all some of their work if not for confidentiality rules.  But the Alzheimer’s Association has a wonderful program called Memories in Making which highlights the importance and value of art-making among dementia populations.  You can see some of the artwork made by the Southeastern Milwaukee chapter of Memories in the Making here. 

I consider myself somewhat of an advocate for this population, as they are oftentimes forgotten about or are seen as not being real people who lived full and unique lives.  So I was so happy to hear such a touching song that highlights the beauty and richness of life that those with dementia lived, especially prior to having the disease. 

I’m sure most of you know someone affected with Alzheimer’s or a similar disease.  And I think it’s really time that we as a culture started to care and to do something about trying to end this disease.  The Alzheimer’s Association is really an amazing foundation that has many opportunities to get involved with this cause through donating, participating in walks, and more.  Please consider just checking out their website to do what you can to help the cause or to simply become more educated about dementia.

Thank you for taking the time to read about such a heavy topic.  It is something that is very near and dear to my heart, so I wanted to take a moment to share that with all of you.

Thanks for listening!
Jennifer

DIY Watercolor Bookmarks

As some of you may know, I currently package every art order with a handmade bookmark made by yours truly. I had to make some more today because I ran out, so I thought I would show you all how to make your own! 

 Here are the supplies you'll need: 

-Paper (cardstock or watercolor paper so it is somewhat durable) 

-Scissors 

-Paints, crayons, markers, etc (whatever you'd like to use to decorate your bookmarks!) 

-Pen or marker 

-Hole punch 

-Yarn, string, or ribbon to make a tassel 

 Start by cutting out the paper into strips to make bookmark length pieces.

 Next, decorate and paint to your heart out!  I made mine with abstract watercolor patterns :)

Be sure to set the bookmarks out to dry once you are done painting!  If you used watercolor paper and paints, they might curl up a bit.  Simply stick them under some books for a few hours (once they are completely dry), and they should flatten out nicely.

Once dry, you can add some fun sayings to the backs.  I put reading quotes from some of my favorite authors!  If you want to add a tassel, leave a little room at the top for a hole.

You can stop there if you want to just leave them like that.  But if you want to add a tassel, first hole punch the top of each bookmark.

Then add your tassels by cutting out strips of yarn or string and looping them through each hole.  If you want to make your tassels look like a traditional book tassel, check out this how to on wikihow.

And there you have it!  Now stick them in some pretty books and enjoy!

Have fun making your own bookmarks, and let me know what you think of this tutorial!

Jennifer

Hello and A Little About Me!

Hi there!  I thought I would give blogging a try, so welcome to my blog and thanks for stopping by!  I figured for my first post I would take an opportunity to introduce myself a little more, so here it goes!

There's me and my Bailey!

• My name is Jennifer, but you can also call me Jen!
• I have a wonderful and quite silly dog named Bailey
• I just got engaged to the love of my life, so brace yourself for some girly posts about my wedding planning adventures!
• I am a vegetarian
• I love my family, friends, anything having to do with art, sleeping in, and green tea
• I’m most comfortable in jeans, a t-shirt, and flats (although getting dressed up every now and then is fun, too)!
• I can be rather shy until you get to know me
• Some of my hobbies include taking photographs, crocheting, and doing ceramics (can you tell I love anything art-related?!)
• I love being outside whenever possible, but I burn easily so I have to always put on sunscreen!
• My favorite color is blue, although don’t tell the other colors that!

So there you have it, a little bit about me!

Until next time!

-Jennifer

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