DIY Portable Dream Board Tutorial

The Introspective/Personal Bit
     It's not a big secret that I'm not the best with budgeting my money. I like to shop. a lot. I've gotten better over the years at not spending excessive amounts of money and I'm not in financial trouble because I can't control my desires to buy all the shineys or anything like that. But, I do spend more than I need to, especially when I have goals for the future that require money. So I am starting a few things to really help me to spend (or save) money where it would make me actually happy and peaceful. Two of the things I am working on are a budget (which I may post on more later) and a portable dream board. Since I travel for work I wanted something that folded down small and could fit into a journal or planner so I could always have it with me. Who knows, maybe it would be helpful when I'm in Target and wanting to feed my addiction and buy that really cute purse haha. I'm hoping that this board will help me to make decisions about my money that, in the long run, will make me happy and remind me of the budget that I have set up for myself. Basically reminding me that if I buy X now, I'm actively taking money away from building a greenhouse or or buying dog food. Instructions on how I made mine are below.


The Crafty Bit
     As I said in my "introspective bit" I created this dream board to remind me of the things that I want in my future. It's specific purpose for me is to help me to realize why I am saving money now. Dream or vision boards have a lots of different purposes for many people and you may want to create yours for a different reason- maybe to remind you why you exercise or to be kinder to others or to work towards whatever desires or goals you have in life.

Basically, they can be helpful for days when you feel like this.

     So what's the difference between this and a Pinterest board? I really think that it is the physcial-ness of it. Performing the action of picking out the photos and creating something feels more tangible and meaningful than just pinning something you will likely not look at as often. Having the physical thing with you is also different. You can pull it out at any time and not be distracted by  things on your feed or other boards. You can set it in a place where it is visible, like your dresser or your desk at work.
     So what's the difference between this and a traditional dream board? This version is small and portable. You can put it up where ever you are - at home, in the office, etc and then you can take it down and carry it with you easily. It's also nice to be able to take it down if you have dreams and desires that you're not ready to or wanting to share with others, like if you have a party at your house. It's also nice to be able to carry it with you even when you aren't expecting to look at it. Sometimes you need motivation when you least expect it.


Alright I'll stop blathering on and get to it!

1. Choose the material for your base. I made mine out of 6 blank cards. I wanted something a little more sturdy than plain printer paper and I had some blank cardstock sitting around. You could easily make this out of different materials though. No need to run out to the office supply store.

2. Assemble your base. I used washi tape to tape together my cards and folded the long strip accordion style.

3. Choose inspiring images. This is the part where I can't tel you what to do! But to give you an example: I picked images that represented freedom to signify myself being debt free from student loans, pictures of the kind(s) of dog(s) I want to own one day, pictures of what my future family may look like, pictures of gardening, greenhouses, fields, and farm animals to signify my homesteading dreams, and pictures of beautiful houses and art studios to signify my desire for an ancestral home and peaceful locations to grow.

4. Attach your images. I just used a glue stick. Nothing too complicated! I just made sure to avoid putting any images over any of the folds so that none of my pictures got worn down with repeated folding.

I completed mine in a few hours and that was just the front of the board. I am planning on doing something else on the back- a more short term dream board. Really, more of a motivation board than a dream board. Basically, I want to put on images that remind me why I want to do the little things that I want to do - like exercise, meditate, research, create, etc. I think that half would be especially helpful on those days when it's so hard to get out of bed and all you want to do is be a burrito and watch TV!

November Creations and Coming to Terms with Failure

November is nearing its end and it's time for an update of my creations. Things went a little differently than planned (thus is life, right?) and I ended up working on different projects than I had earlier stated. The projects that I have worked on this month have been gifts for Xmas and not so much things for myself. I am working on an embriodery project (pics to come soon). I painted a watercolor for my friend (my first time working with watercolor!) and I think it actually turned out pretty good (pics to come soon). There were a few places early on that I made some minor mistakes but I'm learning not to let those little imperfections in my work bother me.

Speaking of not letting imperfections bother me... The other project that I have been working on is sewing an Xmas dress for myself. I measured out the pattern and sized it to myself but I made an error somewhere along the line in the measurements and when I assembled the pieces I discovered that the dress was too small. The dress has a lace overlay and lining and I already cut all of the pieces to the wrong size. Talk about driving myself crazy. Despite my mistakes I have been trying to be optimistic and take out the seams and make modifications, etc but I have found it difficult to continue. It seems like at every step of the way I find something else in it that I need to modify because of my original mistake. I'm at the point where I'm not even sure if I am going to continue with it or just throw the whole thing out. 

This is something that I have difficulty with in many of my projects. I always want my projects to turn out perfect the first time every time. It is something I am trying to work on: to be more comfortable with "failure" and to just get back on the horse. Also, to realize that just because I made a mistake, that doesn't mean the creation is ruined. In short, I am trying to be less critical of myself. I need to start realizing that I have the ability to modify or to even start over if I don't like something and there is nothing wrong with that! Afterall, even some famous artists have painted and re-painted the same subject, why should I expect to be perfect the first time? Art, like anything else, takes practice and I need to allow myself to make those beautiful messes!

xoxo

V

Introductions and such

I am a new blogger and I;m really excited. I have 2, my other being on livejournal. I am planning on making both blogs very similar. My intent for these journals is to talk only about my current projects and ideas. Those being artist endeavors including but not limited to sewing, cooking, painting and drawing, other topics may include philosophy, poetry, short stories, books, and life. My goal is to make a journal that a stranger could read so I don't want to include a lot of personal information or person specific entries. I will however, include personal thoughts, but not complaints (e.g. school, money problems, family issues). My goal is to have an interesting, inspirational, and even instructional online journal that many people can enjoy. I will be posting my first official topic-related entry soon. Hopefully I will have some fabric soon to start my current sewing project. I am making a Battlestar Galactica Admiral's uniform, but I will talk more about that next time!


Just a little information about me: I'm 21. I live in St. Louis, MO. I'm a total geek/gamer chick and I love creating and viewing art. I also love baking and cooking, and philosophy. I'm currently reading Thus Spake Zarathustra (love Nietzsche!) which I also hope to talk about more in-depth in a future entry. I'm in school for psychology (undergrad) and planning to go to grad school for physical therapy. I'd like to be a physical therapist/yoga instructor and open my own practice. I may talk about the process a bit, though I don't want to get too caught up in that in this journal.