Embroidered Tote or Pillow Many of us have boxes and stacks of artwork our children bring home from school that we cherish and want to save. My sons are fully grown and I still of boxes of their primary school drawings. Here’s an idea for preserving those memories, and if your children are still young, this would be a great way to highlight their work.

This is an idea I thought was so adorable, and so special I just had to share it.

Planning is fun, but sometimes it just gets in the way of doing. I was reminded of this when I read a recent blog entry called Sometimes Getting Organized is a Big Fat Waste of Time at Small Notebook for a Simple Home.

We often have to press ourselves to begin the next thing, as though it is something we haven’t done before or wouldn’t know how to figure out. Sometimes you just have to jump in and start in spite of misgivings or feelings of confusion about how to proceed.  So, stop planning and go do something creative and fun!

One of my favorite needlework designers is Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum of Told in a Garden.

Several years ago I spent an entire winter stitching one of her gorgeous angel designs, Angel of Hope. According to her website, this angel was designed during Desert Storm and the yellow ribbons represent our hope for peace.

During this trying time for the people of Haiti, it seems appropriate to post this picture of my finished Angel of Hope.

The best way that we can all help the people of Haiti is to contribute money to the organizations on the ground so that they can distribute supplies where they are most needed.

With so many scams and con men looking to take advantage of this tragedy, it makes sense to go to the well known groups that account for the money and have the most experience in managing a cirsis like this. Here are a few trusted organiations that could use our help:

The American Red Cross

Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders)

The White House

Renewing the Creative Spirit

Sometimes it seems as though you get caught in the tasks and activities of your daily life, the rush of working and caring for your family. And then one day you are cleaning out a drawer and stumble upon that needlework project you were working on a few years ago. Or you are stopped in your tracks in front of a store window of beautiful quilts. And you long for just a few moments of creative time for yourself.

What ever happened to the creative spark that used to fire you up to rush home from work, planning the next section of that needlework project, the next block of a quilt or a design for a new handmade greeting card?

Welcome to Creative Mind and Hands, a place you can come to renew your inspiration and find a new project to fire up your creativity.

We have project instructions you can download, kits to give you a kick start when you don’t know where to begin, and links to other inspiring sites.

Our projects and kits will be categorize to make it easy to select a project that is right for your life right now, from projects that take a couple of hours to complete up to those that take a few weeks or months for the more ambitious.

Are you a beginner or have a desire to try something new? We have projects that range from beginner to advanced and everything in between.

Need a project that doesn’t require a trip to a specialty craft supply store? We have projects that you can do with common supplies.

Or for those of you looking for a challenge, there are projects that require the tools and supplies you love to work with and the ability to purchase those specialty products without leaving home.

So, look around, snoop in the corners, or join in a discussion about your favorite craft. This is the place to come to renew your creativity and take a little time for yourself.

And because I’m always looking for new ways to apply thread and yarn to fabric and canvas, we’ll be exploring the vast world of needlework, too, bringing designers and stitchers to share their expertise with us as well.

Let me know what you want to see here, too, and let’s unleash some creative energy!