Yesterday I picked up a book called “Mess, The Manual Of Accidents And Mistakes” by Keri Smith. I actually went looking for a book with creative exercises to apply myself on a daily basis. A bit of a routine for myself. What I found was this book that said – hey mess me up – write in me, glue stuff in me, crumple me,  mutilate me. I was raised that all books are scared. You took care of them. You never ever wrote in them. It didn’t matter the book, it didn’t matter your opinion of the book. All books are to be cherished. Didn’t like it give it to someone else or donate it, someone will enjoy it. And there I stood, with this book in my hand that stated “break the rules.” I put it down, I picked it back up. I was intrigued. I bought it.

The first exercise, if you want to call it that, was to draw lines. What’s so big about that? Nothing. But I got my kids involved because you were suppose to draw a straight line while someone else bumped the book. My son was not impressed and left, but my daughter loved it. Not that she would admit it mind you. She got into it, moving that book all around. Then she wanted to draw lines and I moved that book around. Above is our line masterpiece.

My daughter wanted to immediately do another activity. So we progressed to the next one that entailed putting something sticky (white glue, honey, etc.)  all over the page and dropping powdery substances on it like flour and cocoa. But I am a fine artist and scrapbooker and I just couldn’t put something like honey and other food products into my book that would rot out of there and smell bad. And I don’t keep Elmers white glue around either. So some clear glue, glitter, fuzz, micro beads, confetti became our medium. The top is what the page looked like. The middle photo is my mess, named Cotton Candy by my daughter and her creation on a piece of cardstock at the end. She wanted to do another, but since the page had to dry I told her she has to wait before we turn the page so they wouldn’t get stuck together. I know the book is suppose to help you realize that mistakes are good. A quote from the book’s introduction, that I loved, is “That is the moment of transcendence when you leave everything behind and leap into the unknown.” But I am now seeing this as a way my soon-to-be teenage daughter and I can spend some time together – talking, laughing, exploring.