Theme for 2012

Last year I decided not to make any New Year's Resolutions, instead, I chose a theme word for 2011.  The theme was Creativity.  And by keeping my theme in mind, I did have a very creative year!  (I read this idea on someone else's blog, but I can't remember now who wrote it, so I can't credit that person.  Suffice it to say this is not my idea, but one that really worked well for me.)

For 2012, I have chosen the theme of Home.  This theme encompasses several goals/dreams of mine.  One desire is to earn enough money and reduce our living expenses enough that we can afford for me to not work outside the home.    For the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with making my own cleaning products, revisiting my collection of money-saving recipes, and inventorying the freezer to use up what we have.  I also want to focus more on "home arts", such as gardening, home maintenance and upholstery.

And....you guessed it.... a new theme means a new artsy project!  I had planned to make this a step by step tutorial, and took lots of pictures.....all of which have disappeared somewhere in this computer.  After hunting for the photos and uttering some "potty-mouth" words, I have resigned myself to just showing the end product.

This is a 5" square framed artist canvas with wooden letters, painted with many layers of acrylic and other paints.  I kept changing my mind about colour combinations, and finally ended up with this.  I will hang this in my studio as a reminder to stay within our budget and look for creative ways to stay at home and enjoy our home in 2012.