Inspired Media

Everybody loves receiving something special in the mail, but with the convenience of text and email, a lot of us have let the handwritten letter fall by the wayside. Send some inspiration this winter! Homemade envelopes are an easy and fun way to add a personal touch to snail mail and give your favorite magazine pages new life. Download and print this template to get started!

What You’ll Need:

Scissors, glue stick, pen/pencil, a variety of magazine pages with images that you like, and our envelope template.

We chose some of our favorite pages from past issues.

Trace the template on the backside of the magazine page.

Cut out the envelope.

Crease the side flaps and the top triangular flap of your envelope.

        

Glue time!

Place some glue on the side flaps and fold the bottom square portion of the envelope over them. Press and hold until the glue dries.

Once the glue dries completely, your envelope is ready to be filled with holiday cheer!

These envelopes are a perfect fit for 3×5 index cards so you can send a letter or your favorite recipe! The standard size means that your envelope can be processed by the postal service without any additional stamps, but we recommend writing  address information on a white background (white sticker labels work great) so that they can be read easily by the USPS machines.

We promise, you can’t make just one of these. Make envelopes for all occasions!

      

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Kristin Anderson had a blast putting this winter’s paper project together! She is a Luther Grad from Des Moines where she designs graphics, paints, eats, and dreams of owning a vegetable farm. To see more of her work check out her webpage!

Winter is a wonderful time to cozy in and think about making life better. So we’re excited to bring you the new Winter 2016-2017 Inspire(d) Magazine, all about bettering yourself and your communities! Online today, and out on stands starting this weekend!

Here’s what you’ll get to read:

Forgiveness Initiative • Smithsonian Water/Ways in Lanesboro • Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness • The Walking Revolution • Sum of Your Business: Brenda Harris • Heard About It? Try It! • Wild Rice Chicken Soup recipe • DIY Envelopes! • Probit: Grace Peterson

Winter 2016-2017 Editor’s Letter

These are some tumultuous times here in our world. There are so many things folks are upset about, and rightly so. These problems are very real and concerns about the future are legitimate.

We’re not here to say everything is going to be all right, but we are going to say that this time is yours to shape. Just like any time. And just like always, Inspire(d) encourages you to start small, start in your own community, or even just start with yourself. Winter is the perfect time to look inside and work on being well and being a better person.

Where do you start? How about with a little (or a lot of) forgiveness? Sara Friedl-Putnam chatted with Luther College forgiveness expert Loren Toussaint, who has done extensive research on the mental and, yes, physical benefits behind being more forgiving of others and yourself. It makes perfect sense to us – holding on to negative feelings will only make us feel more negative. Toussaint shares some tips on how to start forgiving on a more regular basis – we hope you’ll give it a try (pg. 24)!

Inspire(d) newcomer Cerrisa Snethen covers the part where we make our communities better places – she did an fabulous job covering the amazing work of Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative. Come 2017 (which is, indeed, coming!), FFI has been bettering Northeast Iowa for a decade! We had no idea just how many awesome changes in the region were due to this many-faceted organization. See for yourself on page 50.

Speaking of communities, we’re pretty excited that Lanesboro, Minnesota is one of the towns hosting the national Smithsonian exhibit, Water/Ways, January 7 – February 18, 2017. Water is life – we need to protect it, conserve it, and respect it. Kristine Jepsen fills us in on all the cool details of the community-wide exhibit and its multitude of events. It’s going to be a perfect combo of education and fun (pg. 14)!

This issue’s Sum of Your Business feature, Brenda Harris, owner of the Acupuncture Center Decorah, fits perfectly with winter wellness. The three facets of the Center – acupuncture, qigong, and herbal medicine – are fascinating to learn about, and Brenda’s business story is great too (pg. 24).

And while we’re talking about wellness, we should also talk about staying well – I’ve included my go-to chicken soup recipe (pg. 48) – make this for yourself or your family when someone is under the weather, or if you’re just looking for a healthy, warm winter meal.

We were happy to have former Inspire(d) intern, now legit-design-pro Kristin Anderson create the paper project this issue. She came up with a fun idea for reusing your favorite magazine pages: Homemade envelopes (pg. 33). They’re super cute, and who doesn’t love to get a fun little piece of snail mail delivered to their door?

Okay, and winter doesn’t have to be all about looking in – you can get out too! Try some of our fun “get active” ideas – from silo ice climbing to Aerialates – on page 30! And, finally, don’t miss Grace Peterson’s wonderful probituary – we just love reading those interviews!

We here at Inspire(d) hope you enter 2017 with optimism, strength, and health. Make it the best year possible. You’ve got this.

Looking forward,

Aryn Henning Nichols

Fall is the loveliest season around here (we think). So we put together a little list of events to add to your calendar! Go ahead and hit the road this fall for some fun art trips in the Driftless Region! Next up: Lanesboro Arts Center!

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Lanesboro Arts Center
Lanesboro, Minnesota

You know what drive is lovely? Any way you head into Lanesboro, Minnesota. Lucky for us, the arts scene is rich in this tiny (pop. Roughly 750) community, so if you’re looking for a little cultural exploration, plan to stay all day – or even the weekend! Make sure to check out events going on at the Commonweal Theatre, St. Mane Theatre, and, of course, Lanesboro Arts Center.

The Lanesboro Arts Council was formed in the early 1980s – it helped create the Cornucopia Art Center, giving artists a beautiful space to exhibit and providing community arts activities. In 2010, the Council and Cornucopia merged to create Lanesboro Arts.

Programming includes free youth education classes, fine arts galleries, internship programs, performance art, opportunities to participate in public art, and more. Lanesboro Arts has brought innovative arts experiences to audiences for over 30 years, becoming a national model for empowering communities through the arts. Find details at lanesboroarts.org