Paper And Glue, Part Two

A few posts back, I asked this question: 

What if all I had was paper and glue to make a living?

Well, here we go, one delightful example! IF YOU LIKE TO COOK, HAVE A LOOK!!

Check them out at:

Lisa-Tana Kitchen Helpers Stickers Sheet.

Y’know what I’d do with these stickers? 

I’d write notes to invite friends over for coffee, pizza, daal and roti, cake.

I’d stick them on the back of envelopes as a seal.

If I had a cooking business, I’d use them in communication with customers.

Oh! I’ve found out they don’t have plastic on them…soooo environmentally cool!!

There you go…one way to use paper to create a small biz for yourself!

Get talking.

What if you could start something that makes conversation the reason we go? Fire up your imagination…what can it be?

The beauty of straw.

Have you ever thought of how something as simple as straw could be used in the most fantastic ways? With straw, you can make delicate things such as paper, or strong structures such as walls.

The Amerindians of Guyana, South America, make straw from a special palm tree. The straw is used to create the most exquisite handwoven items. Here’s one of their attractive placemats to be used on the dining table. To be honest, I’d display it on my wall!

This being Amerindian Heritage Month in Guyana, let’s celebrate the hand made straw of the Indigenous People.

Once, my mother made a delicate ladies’ straw bag…and guess who purloined it…walking proudly with it around town!

My father!!

I kid you not. 

It was pretty, embroidered and all. I imagine the flowers looked something like this:

According to my mother, she who can stretch a tale to fit the occasion, my father was proud of her bag, creating a stir on busy Water Street, and whilst she described the scene to me, I imagined pedestrians craning their necks and staring! 

It’s a long, amusing tale, if you want to read more, hop over here:

My father’s straw-bag for ladies.

I will soon be looking at some of the ways we can use straw to earn a living.

Paper and glue can help you.

Hello! September is Amerindian Heritage Month in Guyana, South America. The Amerindians are the Indigenous People of the country, the first people who were there before everyone else!

They live in the interior of the country, but they are not cut off from the rest of the population. This means that we, the coastland citizens, have been privileged to see their wonderful craft. They make some of most exotic beaded items, handwoven baskets, and so much more. 

They also make small figurines of the wild animals found in the Guyana jungle. Here’s an example…this is made with the sap of the balata tree. This is Kaieteur Falls (the largest single-drop waterfall in the world). The golden frog lives near the waterfall.

You can read more here:

September is Celebration Month.

The balata figurines got my imagination revved up. What if all I had was paper and glue to make a living? It’s actually not that crazy an idea! You’d be surprised to see what creative people do with only that, and yes, you can too. I will add the list of things you can make in to the Money List. Watch that space, my friend.

A spare piece of land.

A few months ago, my brother took us to visit his friend who had some spare land at the back of his home. When I say “spare”, I mean massive spare. Acres of green until the horizon.

The home was a few miles out of town, far from the city crowd. That day, the sky was a piercing blue, the weather was extremely warm. There weren’t many trees to cast shade across the land which, by the way, was lying fallow. 

Oh my goodness!

My mind raced with all the marvelous activities my brother’s friend could host on that fabulous spread of green. Many of the activities wouldn’t cost me much. I day-dreamt about using the earnings to host more fantastic activities that would increase my earnings.

Seriously, what would you do if you had a spare piece of land around your home, out of town?

Writing this reminds me of the list I’ve recently sent to the owners of an orchard. The list contains a set of ideas that could be used to make the orchard a vibrant place for visitors. I will upload the list in the money section…look for LAND.

In the meantime, here’s a fun piece that will take you faraway, into the rainforest of South America: 

Fasten your seatbelts for this!

Happy travels, me hearties.

Imagine this!

Imagine this…

…a world without imagination.

What would we have?

Nothing.

No songs, films, clothes, jewellery; no art, bridges, towers, patios, benches in the parks, no bicycles or scooters, roller skates, skateboards…get my drift?

Look around you if you’re in a restaurant or a café, a home, bus, the subway. Anywhere indoors. Look at the roof, the windows, the floor. Every single human-made thing has come from someone’s mind, from someone’s imagination. And it’s highly likely that that mind has been fed with books.

Why then would you want to shy away from books? Books teach you about people, they show you how to observe life, how to engage your senses, thus helping your imagination to grow even livelier.

Want to give your imagination a good nudge in the right direction? Have some fun! Imagine if books could make sounds, imagine what sounds we would hear as they march into homes and schools and community centres what a tamasha, what a drama…what sounds would they make, those books?

Want to know more? Read here:

Commotion in de home.

Don’t forget to check out the Money tab to help you find ways to earn!

This walking business.

I love to walk…to stray. To explore. I have gawked at two men battling for a woman-vendor in the market; once, I wanted to take front view of two women fighting for a man but my mother kept me back, I was a mere child then. I must admit though, despite my  fassness…my curiosity, I have turned my gaze away from the homeless man in town flaunting he nekkid glory for the world to see. All these I will share with you another time, in books or elsewhere. Just know that, whilst moving around my city, you are given no trigger warning the way they do for films and books these days. It is life. Cry. Or laugh. 

Read some walking stories here: Come walk with me.

Do you like to walk, to explore? What if you could earn from taking people off the beaten track, being a tour guide, telling stories, describing history? My second brother would excel at this. He knows where all the wild fruit grow in Florida, and he knows tons of history about buildings, politics, sites. He knows where the cool nature places are too. (However, he already runs a UPS business so he would have no time for doing a tour business.)

If the idea of taking people on walking trips intrigues you, have a look at my Money section. Scroll down to WALK for a few ideas. Have fun!!