A Tisket, A Tasket...

Meet my 'first aid' basket....
Some might notice that it's really a Longerberger basket... the 'lunch basket' model, to be exact. I'm guilty of loving their baskets. Good thing I bought my collection of them when I did...those days are probably over. I have had this one for almost a year and it goes where I go... work, the grocery store, Starbuck's, lunch with my girlfriends, to pick up M, the cabin in the woods... Yes, I carry it with me everywhere.

I call it my 'first aid' kit because it contains things that help me with the day. In the back is my green scrapbook album of my new home. It's a work in progress and one that was suggested by Susan Ban Breathnach in her new book "Moving On". It's a wonderful book that guides you through the process of 'moving on' in your life; either literally due to divorce, loss, moving, etc. - or by simply 'de-cluttering' your life of things that clog your closets, garage and probably your spirit. I started reading her book on March 19th, and I'm on page 40. I've been there for 2 1/2 months. That's because she suggests making an album of how you see your 'new' home...whether you really are in a new home, or you are 'renewing' your present one. I was so taken with her suggestion that I accumulated the necessary album and embellishments and for the last two months, that's what I've been doing..setting up my 'new home' book... a page for the living room, a page for the kitchen, one for the bathrooms, etc. Magazine clippings, drawings, inspirations are beginning to slowly find their way into my album. If I come across an idea or inspiration for my eventual new home, then I tuck it in there. I tend to be one who spearheads through a project to get it done, but for some reason, I am perfectly content to take this at its natural pace, which seems to be a bit slow, and just enjoy the process.

Next, is my black box of my colored pencils. A 48-peice set of Prismacolor colored pencils. My favorite. They are so rich and smooth to work with. These aren't your grandma's colored pencils. I love the rich color and silky texture that lays down when I color with them. Sometimes, I think it's crazy that I cart them around with me every day, but when I consider taking them out of my basket, I just know that I'll be inspired to create a page or label or card, and darn...I won't have my pencils. So I trust my inner voice and keep them with me. Good thing. I use them quite a bit.

My personal planner is Mary Engelbreit...have you heard of her? Her 2006 desk calendar tucks so nicely in my basket and keeps me sane!! I write down everything that's important...phone numbers, appointments, meetings, classes...and thank goodness, because in these crazy days, I know I would have forgotten an appointment or 'lost the magster'!! Do you have a planner??

The next book is my pink leather Italian journal. She's relatively new to the bunch. I don't write in her much...only when I really think about it...which is about once every month or so. But I love the girly pink color and the little pink button book marker in her. Silver with pink and white buttons - made by a woman's group for battered women through J. Jill stores. I wish those women strength and courage everytime I see it.

Next, is the wonderful Susan Ban Breathnach book, Moving On. It's laying on its spine and those little pink 'flags' are paper tags that I've used to mark special parts of her book that I wanted to be able to refer back to. Like I said, I'm only on page 40, because I've been busy doing my 'homework' of creating my album and haven't read on. But every so often I think about going back to this book and learning more about this process that I am in. Maybe I just carry it around for its good karma.

Next, but hard to see, is my purple pencil keeper. It's nothing more than a plastic envelope from Target for 3 bucks. But I carry a wealth of writing supplies in it...mechanical pencils, a little pad of sticky notes, art gum eraser, pink pearl eraser, a yellow highlighter, Zig 'millennium' writing pens in different sizes - 6 black, one in blue, Zig 'writer' pens in all sorts of colors - kiwi, pure violet, black, wheat, orchid, coffee, burgandy, apricot, plum mist and platinum, a pack of ink pens in colors of blue, purple, orange and green. Life is too short to only write in black.

Tucked down in and out of sight is an eclectic group of cards sealed in a baggie. They are mostly from '7 gypsies' - a collection of old-fashioned cards used to scrapbooking...check out their site...I love these cards!! Also in the group are cards with soothing pictures - hearbed bathwater in an old-fashioned clawed tub, a wooden bowl with a mix of potpourri, a sweaty glass of lemonade...all with recipes and words of wisdom on the back of each one. I take them out now and then and look through them. These, too, have almost been removed from the basket, but as soon as I do, I know that I'll wish that I hadn't.

I don't have all of my eggs in one basket, but the basket that I do carry around is one that helps me through the day.

What's in your 'basket' ??