we're all mad here!

love train - a GIVE AWAY

I'm having one of those moments ... that feeling you've got something important to do. That KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!ing that makes your heart start to race a little bit. I'm getting one of those "feelings" I'm doing what I'm supposed to be right this very minute. Do you ever have that happen, and not act then wish you had? I don't want this feeling to turn into one of those, so I'm going to "act now while supplies last", and follow my gut.

Today started out pretty good, and has continued to get better and better as time ticks by. There's some mojo stirring itself up over here folks, and I REALLY want to share it and pass it on to YOU.

Yes, YOU!

You sitting right there hoping it's you, but maybe feeling too nervous or anxious or maybe even a little afraid that it is YOU to even try and join in. Are you ready to make a difference in someone else's day? Are you ready to get this love movin' all over the globe? Don't you dare tell me we can't cause I know better!

We're going to get a love train going my peeps, and see how far we can spread the love. Are you up for the adventure? Are you game? Here's all you have to do:

• give something away on your blog or flickr or tumblr or wherever ... whatever you use to share with your peeps

AND

• post a link to it right here on this very blog post
   

That's it :) I don't care what you give away - it can be art ... time ... product ... a service ... something sewn or handmade ... a polka dot elephant wearing tights - the what, my friends, is up to you.  The point is to take a moment to stop the talking, and take a smidgen of your precious time to do the walking. It's time to put all that lip service - all the "I wanna"s & the "I should just", and actually DO. My husband is a HUGE supporter of the "don't tell me - show me" way of living your life. The plain truth is that actions speak a million times louder than words. Always.

So, here's what I'm giving to one of you - my owls & fireflies pillowcase. It's 16 x 16 inches and has an apple green zipper in the bottom so you can take your pillow out and wash the case if it gets dirty. I've been deciding what to do with it for months, and I think this is exactly the right thing! It's quilted on both sides, and comes from a smoke free home :) I'll also throw in some extra goodies tailored just for you. I'm also going to pick one more person in private to pass something else on to that is more personal, because I've got the feeling I need/want/should do that, too because that is how it has been given to me all day.

Here's the fine print:

• I will choose the winner at random by using a number genorator
• You have between now and 3 pm EST on Friday to post the link to your Give Away.
• You do not need to live in the USA to win this Give Away or host your own
• You must send me your address by next Wednesday - 10/5 or I choose a new winner
  {I have a problem mailing things out & don't want to wait or forget.} 

One of the things I stumbled upon today, that I've talked about in the past is Tiny Buddha. Well, here is today's quote:

A hero is a man who does what he can.
+Romain Rolland+

So, let's all do what we can today, and be the hero in someone else's day! As my friend Melody likes to say, "You never know when you might be exactly what someone else needs at exactly the right moment!" and I agree wholeheartedly!

NOW GO PASS ON THE LOVE!

CHA was amazing!

It's that time again:

Starting today you can hop on over to the Cloth Paper Scissors website and download a free ebook full of handmade book tutorials. I'm so excited to be featured right smack at the top:

Article #1: Creating Mixed Media Books "Creating Treasure Booklets"

click here to open the link in another window: free ebook from Cloth Paper Scissors

7 things I love this week:

• volunteering with Holly - passing out chips & salsa from Houlihan's to all the Lansing Kidney Walk participants
• chobani greek yogurt - pomegranate
• kokka's linen fabric - new bird echino prints
• poach pods - thanks Mom!
• having buckets of patience
• fresh paint - April Mist
• getting together with my longtime art girls

Last week Tracie Lampe invited me to tag along to CHA in Chicaco with her, and we had the most amazing time. It was the first time attending for both of us, and I have to admit we had more fun than should be aloud for grown-ups!

Other than meeting some amazing contacts, and getting talks going about licensing my illustrations for all sorts of goodness, the highlight of my trip was finding Mixed and Stitched on the showfloor which I was totally not expecting.

It was so wondeful to run into Facebook friends like Margo Potter, Sarah Hodsdon, Julianna Hudgins, and Marisa Pawelko and finally get to see them in 3D as Margo likes to call it. Catching up with Jen Cushman, Bernie Berlin, Tracie Lampe, and Barbe St. John led to intense fits fo giggles, and some frank talks about our views on the differences between the Mixed Media and Craft world. Jen summed it up best by calling them fishbowls that sit next to each other on the same shelf, but are sometimes hard to hop between. Overall, I think we really recharged each other's creative tanks, and helped cheer each other on to new and amazing goals!

We all did a group interview with Elena over at Charity Wings, and you can catch our little bit of sillyness over on their site. You can find the link over on my side bar under Brave Girls links.

By the end of Wednesday, we had all gotten a little punchy and started coming up with funny ways to incorporate ourselves into our favorite booths displays. You can find some VERY funny shots on all our facebook pages, and I promise they will deliver intense giggling.

I have lots of amazing opportunities to share with you tomorrow, but today I'm resting on the couch after another round of spinal injections, and should really get back to resting. A HUGE thank you to all my art mentors who gave me the best advice ever on how to achieve my goals. I couldn't have done it without all of you!

So, what are U up to today?
Tell us all about it here or over on your blog :)

NOW GO MAKE ART!

getting away from it all

This past weekend, Larry & I snuck away for a rare weekend alone. I found this fabulous little cottage in the woods online for us, and it was a truly magical place! I got to do lots of sitting by the fire, drawing ... thinking ... journaling ... listening to the magical quiet of Le Pin Cottage. I really needed this time away to re-center myself, and brainstorm how to get back into writing after taking this hiatus.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about what I want to get out of my day to day life, and how I want to spend so much more time reconnecting with my art girls. All of this deep thinking started when I hired Laura Bray last year as my art coach to help get me through the process of writing Mixed and Stitched. One of the first things she did was challenge me to really stop and think about how I was utilizing my time, and what my fall back crutches are in times of stress. 

For me, that means procrastination ... avoiding ... getting sucked into the computer ... and isolation from friends. All terrible terrible habits that I'm trying to break out of! I've started writing letters to friends again ... gotten back into some fabulous exchanges on Flickr ... started a journal of goals & dreams {SO important if you want to achieve them!} ... planted an herb garden {you will get a fun little project tutorial about this tomorrow} ... started repainting the rooms in our house. All things that I WANT to spend more time on lately, and put off to write my book.

I'm not the only one who's been thinking deep thoughts about life either:
my beautiful friend Kolleen had the most awesome FB update the other day:

"the grass is greener where you water it"

Really makes you stop, think, and nod in agreement, huh!? Are you watering your own grass or just wishing it was greener? What is keeping you from making your own grass greener? Do you even know? Maybe what you need to do is really stop and think about what it will take to make YOUR grass the greener one!

Another wonderful friend of mine, Melody has decided to take a 90 day break from FB and technology to focus on making art, soul searching, and deep writing. I would love for you to hop over to her blog, and read more about it. I really like that she's brave enough to give this a try! I know that when I spend too much time getting sucked into FB, I don't get the things done that I wanted to for the day. When I feel super stressed out I know it's time to step away from the internet, and focus on the causes of my stress.

What are the monsters that go BUMP! in your head? Melody talks about her worry of being forgotten if she stays away from FB for too long ... I think many of us artists are afraid of being forgotten or passed by if we take time for ourselves to water our gardens so to speak. I know I've worried about it way too much in the past. So much so, that I was accepting every opportunity out there whether or not I could really fit it in to my schedule. That was another one of the things Laura and Melody helped me with ... learning that it's not only okay, but extremely healthy to say no. So, I started only accepting opportunities that fell in with my goals & dreams. Really hard to do because again, as artists we're always worried about being missed or missing out.

What I found when I unplugged and stepped away a little bit is that I need mail art & love to keep going. That I need to tend to my messy nest to feel happy and fulfilled. How sharing my problems with close friends helps me to feel strong enough to conquer them. How important it is to stay connected to my art girls ... because they are the fuel of my artistic fire. Most of all that it's okay to take time away to recharge, refocus, and get back on track.

There's lots of thoughts banging around upstairs, and you'll be reading lots more of them ... cause I like sharing with all of you, and hearing your thoughts on schtuff :) 

NOW GO MAKE ART!

do you tickle or sting? - what are U up to today? - wednesdays no. 4

At the end of last week I got hives. All the women in my family have a tendency for them, and usually we're very careful about trying new products. It's been a LOOOOONG time since I've had the hives really bad, so I got lax last week and tried 4 new things in one week ... 3 of them all in the same evening. What a mistake that was! So, what do I wake up to Friday morning, but a nice case of the hives. And when I say a "case of the hives" I'm not talking a couple here or there or even a bunch in one spot ... I'm talking hives as big as oranges EVERYWHERE! There's a movie starring Lilly Tomlin called The Incredible Shrinking Woman ... in it Lilly plays a housewife who one day is exposed to just too many chemicals. They react wildly and cause her to start shrinking thus the title. It is an incredibly funny movie that still causes you to stop and think about what we expose ourselves to on a daily basis as not just women, housewives, and mothers, but as artists as well. 

So, here I am with hives, and the ability to narrow down the cause to only 3 things and not a stitch further. I was so mad at myself! What in the world was I thinking trying all these new things at once when I knew better? What happens inside our brains to suddenly switch us into doing things we know we shouldn't? Thank goodness the advance copy of my book came on Monday or I might be bonkers by now! This brings me to my next question:

do you tickle or sting?

What could I possibly mean by this you ask.  Well, I've been doing a lot of housekeeping lately in my personal life, and one of the things I've worked REALLY hard to get rid of is people who like to focus on the negative instead of CHOOSING to focus on the positive. I've started to notice that there are basically two kinds of people in this world - those who choose to say positive things {aka tickle you} and lift us up & those who can't help but focus on the negative of EVERYTHING {aka sting you with every word}. Having those types of people in your life can be so draining. It might seem exciting at first, since they seem to know the dirt on everyone, but after awhile you begin to notice that everything that trickles out of their mouth is something negative. They're quick to point out when your husband doesn't do things they think he should, they bag on mutual friends, they spend your whole phone conversation complaining about everything in their life, and when it's time for you to talk they suddenly "have to run". 

Now, I'm not talking about the occasional gossip or agreeing with you that your husband is being a jerk ... I'm talking about actively trying to talk you out of liking your husband & kids because they don't like theirs. I'm talking about bagging your job because they aren't happy at work ... on and on and on it goes until your ears are ringing and you can't find the good in anything around you. Get rid of those people and pull the people who lift you up and accentuate your positive as close as you can get them. These are the people in your life who are going to be truly happy when you soar instead of trying to belittle your accomplishments ... these are the people who remind you how lucky you are when you feel low and useless. These my peeps are TRUE friends and sisters!

On that note I'm going back to roll around inside the pages of Mixed and Stitched ... mouth watering at every juicy picture. Believe me, I'd photograph and share EVERY page with you right now if I could ... you'll have to suffice with taking a peek inside over on Amazon, and getting what you can over here on my blog until it comes out in June.  Sorry :)

NOW GO MAKE ART!

 

what are U up to today? - wednesdays - no. 3

did'ya miss me?

I've been CRAZY busy, and enjoying every minute of it!
{well ... let's be honest, not EVERY minute, but a heck of a lot of 'em}

I have so much to talk about I hardly know where to start, but  my what are U up to today? photo seems like a good enough place. As you can see this week I'm earning my messy nest title wholeheartedly. blech ... what a mess I have to clean up after Artfest!

I know I'll get right on it though, cause I got lots of ideas goin' on upstairs & my fingers are itching to sew some more. One of the wonderful things I've been working on is the pillow above as a congratulations present to my friend Melody on making her Brave Girls Clubhouse a dream come true! I just kinda made up my own wonky house pattern as I went, and I love these colors together! I used a felt tip fabric pen to write little messages of encouragement all over for Mel and all her Brave Girls. Today, I packed it up and tomorrow it will be flying off to it's new home soaking up love & tears of all the future Brave Girls to come.

I had lunch with my best girl Holly today, so I'll update the what are U up to today? blogroll tomorrow which means you still have time to sneak your post in today!

NOW GO MAKE ART!

What are U up to today? - wednesdays - no. 2

It's that time again folks - What are U up to today?

I've been working on another little peek inside my art journal video for you these past two days, and I have to say that my patience was tested a bit this time. It took FOREVER, and then when it was 92% uploaded onto You Tube my computer froze and I totally had to start over again. GRRRRR! 

but

I persevered, and here it is:

 

  

I'm putting the finishing touches on the last one for this spread in my journal, and will have it up later today over on 365 days of 40. If you'd like to see what everyone else is up to today just click on the icon above for a list of participating blogs! It also tells you what you need to do if you'd like to participate. This is a no-end-in-sight project so feel free to join us whenever!

NOW GO MAKE ART!

 

can I get a WOOT! WOOT!

I finished up the bulk of my manuscript on Friday, and I can't tell you how incredible it feels! I've been working on it in one form or another since November 2008, and typing up that last little bit felt as if a HUGE weight was finally lifted off my shoulders. One of the things I had to type up was my acknowledgements, and it really got me thinking about mentors, and how incredibly lucky I've been in that department. On the left is a sneak peek of the cover for my book. You can see a tiny bit of it poking out from behing two amazing pieces of artwork from one of my favorite peeps, Sarah Fishburn :) She sent a box home recently with all kinds of goodies, and older artwork of mine, and she snuck these two prints into a Hansel & Gretel  that was included. I didn't realize they were in there until I finally sat down with a spare minute to read. I love the Peter Pan one, but the red and orange one on the left just really kind of summed up how I'm feeling now that I can sew, and play, and do all the fun things I've had to decline in favor of writing.

One of the projects I really want to work on is a quilt made from these amazing orange and gray fabrics. Jules and I had a little girls day out today, and hit Michael's and the quilt store to celebrate my newfound freedom. It's been a couple weeks of VERY late nights, no food in the house, and less clothes to wear than everyone is used to, but they were champs, and only grumbled a little. I think I'm going to give one of those quilts with the plus signs on it a go maybe or I might make them up into 1 1/2 inch hexies.  I haven't decided yet, but I'm sure I'll have an update photo for you later this week!

Do you have anything looming over your head right now, threatening to suck the life out of you? If you do, I highly suggest you GET IT DONE, and move on to rewarding yourself for doing so.  It's a MUCH better feeling!

NOW GO MAKE ART!

thinking about summer vacation

here's a peek inside my sewing bag today:

 

      

I'll tell you what everything is tomorrow :)

NOW GO MAKE ART!

Still smiling in the sunshine!

We're on day 9 of perfect sunshine, and it seems like everyone is in a good mood because of it! It's hard to make it through the winter here in Michigan - every day is cold and grey, there's lots of snow and ice, we're all stuck indoors, and your toes freeze when they hit the bed at night. All things that make even the cheeriest of us crabby and unsociable until the sun peeks it's head out to cheer us up. All three of our pets love laying in the sunshine {what a hard life, huh?}, and have been hoarding it from each other in the family room. Ginger figured out a solution to the problem and found an empty box next to my chair that just happens to catch the afternoon sun. What you can't see in this picture is that the dogs are just off to the right {less than a foot away}. She's decided that if she's in the box they can't see her, and she's safe from harm {or wet, curious noses}.

  
 
I received the most wonderful parcel from my penpal yesterday! Above are just a few of the goodies from my lovely friend, Kelley Frisby. We stumbled upon each other through a moleskine Flickr group called Sketch Connection, and became fast friends. The idea behind the group was to partner up with someone and exchange moleskine sketchbooks back and forth until they're full. In doing so you are supposed to learn about your penpal through their sketches {i.e. no text}. We're rule breakers, and have decided to give each other tidbits about ourselves in writing alongside our sketches. It quickly became apparent that Kelley and I love many of the same things - Alice in Wonderland being one of them. We decided to add a monochromatic experiment into the mix, and I started it in my moley with this sketch of The Red Queen. Kelley kept it going with this amazing illustration of Alice meeting Humpty Dumpty that I just adore! On top of that as part of Pay It Forward over on her blog, she sent me this handmade Humpty doll that just makes you smile when you give him a sqoosh in your hands :) The last little sketch is one she did in shades of purple/violet, and it's so much like Larry that it puts a huge grin on my face just to think of it! Please hop over to her website to check out more photos of her illustrations - she mentioned posting more of the pictures herself, so I don't want to steal her thunder.

 One of my other favorite exchanges right now is The Pillow Talk { Swap } [which is also over on Flickr]. I had a really hard time picking out fabric for my partner this time. Dare I say I may have too much fabric to choose from? Nah :) In the end I decided that since we both like virtually the same colors/designs that I would just make a pillow I would really like to keep and send that. I started with linen and this fabulous green print linen from Kokka. I ironed on interfacing, and cut along the edge in a wavy pattern to give the pillow flow. I then used my sketchy style of sewing and three different threads to "draw" lines up and down the edge. Today, I cut out a few of the flowers, and ironed them over on the linen side. Next, I will stitch around the cut-out flowers by hand before starting on the back of the pillow. Oh, how I hope they will love it as much as I do! I'm off to work on my pillow, but I'll be back soon with a wonderful spring Give Away for March!

NOW GO MAKE ART!

I almost forgot - today is Catherine Witherell's birthday! Go visit her blog and leave her a birthday message :)

SNOW DAY!

 My kids are home with me today because of a snow day, and while they're too old to go outside and build snow forts, they still love the day off! Today's snow day was celebrated with re-runs of the Millionaire Matchmaker, a Family Guy-a-thon, the movie Smart People, and an evening of Little Big Planet {which I love to death}. It was so wonderful to stitch away to the sound of the two of them laughing out loud and threatening each other in "adult" voices.

Even though the ground in covered with snow, I am dreaming of spring. Two days ago it was freezing cold, but the sun was shining, and I could hear birdsong coming from the bare bushes around our home. It seems that I've had birds on the brain lately, and they keep growing from my fingertips in ink and fabric form. One of the things I've had difficulty with is the wing forms, so I've been sketching them to try and work out how to sew them from fabric for a special Valentine.

 Every year I try and exchange handmade Valentine's with different artist friends. My hope is to one day have a collection from as many of them as possible. This year I'm exchanging them with Kristen Robinson and Catherine Witherell, and making a very special one for my new friend Melody Ross as a thank you for coming along just when I needed her most. There's a Buddhist Proverb that says, "when the student is ready, the teacher appears", and this is so true for my stumbling upon Melody. In the short time I've known her, she's touched my heart and soul in ways I can't describe without sounding cliché or corny. She runs a wonderful retreat called Brave Girls Camp, and I'm so excited to be going there in October!

I've talked about hiring Laura Bray as my Art Coach before, and I can't tell you enough what a wonderful job she's doing! I sketched this a couple weeks into our "job", and just after "meeting" Melody. REACH is a word that has so many important meanings to me {the most common being the literal since I'm only 5'5" & have to stand tippy-toed to reach just about everything}. One goal that Laura has helped me reach for is the long-time dream/goal of publishing in Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. I'm so proud to say that I shipped off a very special handmade book to them this week, and it will be in the May/June issue :) I can't tell you how exciting this is for me - a big thank you to everyone over at CPS who gave me the thumbs up!

NOW GO MAKE ART!

thinking about my ten things

I was going to just post this over on my FB page, but then it struck me that it would be perfect for a blog post. [Laura - what an AHA moment!] I originally read about this over on Linda Woods blog, and loved how witty and funny her 10 Things were [but even more so the reasoning behind adding it to the list]. It got me thinking about my 10 Things:

1. Larry - [sappy I know, but it eliminates quite a few other must have things]
2. my glasses - have you ever tried looking for them without them on ... I'm blind and would surely stumble into traffic or off the precipice of something high!
3. Nilla wafers - I was going to put this: lemon luna bars - I'm thinking this would lead to a refrigerator because I like a lot of snacks cold, but I'm sure I could adapt to room temperature [especially if you only get to have 10 Things!], but decided that Nilla's are great at room temperature so no adjust period would be necessary :)
4. a black Tikky 0.2 pen - I don't even need paper ... I've been drawing on myself since I was in grade school [right Mom?!]
5. lip balm - "Hi - my name is Jennifer and I'm addicted to Aveda lip saver." "Hi Jennifer", the room.
6. a needle and thread - I have to have something to keep my hands busy, and need a creative outlet. I'll sew on hand-me-downs, and broken down boxer shorts if that's all that's available!
7. fresh Red Vines - the thicker ones, not the skinny minnies ... and they HAVE to be fresh
8. my down pillows - I can't sleep without them, and they already travel wherever I do.
9. my Kindle - I actually prefer the feel of paper beneath my fingertips when I read, but I couldn't pick just one book. This way I get to continually read new ones, and still only take up 1 space. I considered my iPod for a moment, but even though I could get audio books, there's something about seeing the words that makes the experience whole.
10. yoga pants - I like to wear jeans most days, but if I had to choose between them and yoga pants I think yoga pants would wrestle the jeans down with an arm bar. There's nothing like putting them on at the end of the day [especially if the bra has come off just prior!].

<--- Here's a peek at some of the fabrics I'm using for one of the my book projects. The piece of art in the middle is something I made a long time ago, and was just relocating to another place in my studio. These aren't colors I work with often, but they are luscious and perfect for this particular item :) Wait until you see what I'm making ... you may have to stitch your socks on!

Well, I'm off to get back to work on some very special things. I just really loved Linda's post, and couldn't stop thinking about what 10 Things I can't live without. I really would love to see yours, either here as a comment or a link to your blog.

NOW GO MAKE ART!