I'm A Jotter

If you have read any of my posts over the past years you already know that I’m a somewhat obsessive doodler and note keeper…I burn through notebooks on a weekly basis filling them with concepts, ideas and sketches.

Several weeks ago while cleaning and organizing my downstairs workspace I stumbled across this journal from 1996 which is filled with things to do and concepts for a haunted attraction.

It was fun to thumb through the pages and see what was going through my mind in 1996.

The Family Creative Workshop

One of my joys is browsing through thrift stores looking for treasures. Stores such as Salvation Army or Goodwill have been gold mines when it comes to finding inspirational and prop building materials.

Several months ago I stumbled across a set of books titled The Family Creative Workshop published in 1976 by Plenary Publications International, Incorporated out of New York, NY.

The series of 23 books covers a very eclectic range of topics from making your own vinegar to building a canoe, very creative stuff for your family. The cover art of the books comes straight from The Brady Bunch which honestly I find comforting because not only did I grow up during the 70’s but also because I really love books.

The internet is great but a book is better by a mile, there is nothing better than picking up say a volume from an encyclopedia and spending hours browsing page after page.

My set of The Family Creative Workshop is missing volumes #5, #7, #20 and #21. I’m really curious as to what treasures those four books contained.

1. Acrylics to Batik
2. Beach Combing to Bottle Gardens
3. Boxes to Card Tricks
4. Carryalls to Confections
5. MISSING
6. Embroidery to Gingerbread
7. MISSING
8. Hooked rugs to Lace
9. Lamps and Shades to Maps and Pathfinding
10. Marmalades and Preserves to Mosaics
11. Music Making to Papier Mache
12. Parades and Festivals to Piñatas
13. Pin Striping to Puzzles
14. Quilting to Rope Knotting
15. Rose Maling to Scrimshaw
16. Sculpture to Silhouettes
17. Silversmithing to Sprang
18. Square Dancing to Sugar Shapes
19. Sundials to Tatting
20. MISSING
21. MISSING
22. Vinegars to Winter Sculpture
23. Wire Assembly to Zoetrope Toys

Now I ask with all seriousness where else would you find a collection of books covering such a diverse range of topics. The Family Creative Workshop is a true treasure from the 70’s.