in 2008. a starting place.

here's my free style.
1- read more words.
2- say more words.
3- find fullfillment.
4- be resilient.
5- stay passionate.
6- caucus. january 3.
7- try to make my voice be heard.
8- clarity.
9- invigoration.
10- less complication.

"Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken."
Frank Herbert

Merry Christmas to All...

...and to all a good night.

New projects. and inspiration.

Taking a note from some of blogland's finest, I started work on some mini-projects. New ways to catalogue my photos...in print...for once. I will speak more about my warming up to "scrapbooking" in a later post, but for now, I have project B (the photos of project A turned out dark and gold-toned, unfit for blogging). Last week (as written here) an ice storm blasted the midwest leaving many (still!) without power. We took pics to commemorate the snow day and last night (while watching, shamelessly, Clash of the Choirs) I made this little book. I shot a few pictures of the pages. Currently there are only twothat didn't turn out gold toned. I glued pieces of blue scrap paper back to back to make sturdy pages and then punched holes (I heart the hole puncher) to fit the binder ring and to add "festive" snow to the pages. I like it. A lot.

And because it's Monday...

Here are 8 things that made today, today:
1- I was re-enacting a fight I witnessed at an indoor, adult, recreational soccer match...yes true story...and I punched my desk chair's arm. It really hurt. My right index finger is paying for it.
2- I ate my first homemade frosted sugar cookie of the holiday season. mmmm.
3- I received a candygram from one of my employees. A note that was so sweet I smiled most of the day. And to top it off, one of my drawings is on the note.
4- I am officially addicted to Martha Stewart's craft line at Michael's. I have plotted my next visit...I just went Saturday...all day long.
5- My sister is returning from London after 7 months on Wednesday--EXCITING.
6- Only one of my hands is cold. The right one. That got in a fight with my desk chair.
7- I don't work on Friday. Meaning I can't focus, at all. Everyday feels like Friday.
8- I'm tired. So tired. Perhaps because I slept every spare minute of the weekend. And there were a lot of spare minutes.

Sale #1.

I sold these today. These sets of notecards, postcards and gift tags or different shapes, weights and sizes. That I lovingly labored over. That I carefully packaged and repackaged until they looked just right. That I smiled at constantly while they waited for pick up on my desk.

I sold these. I did. My work. Sold.

Full on snow day!

An Ice storm covered all of the midwest yesterday... a half inch of ice on EVERYTHING in Des Moines: the roads, the trees, the cars and the mailboxes. Over 90 businesses shut down, including mine, and hundreds of area schools closed. It made for one heck of a snow day!

After attempting to get the car out for work, we realized it was better to stay put...until the power went out.

A bit scary and a bit fun, the snow day served as a great day for gift making, nap taking, lunch outing, holiday card stamping and sending, movie watching, Anne's chicken noodle soup cooking, and early to bedding. Here are a few pics of the ice, ice baby.

The first of many...

As I begin to work on inventory for an etsy shop (finally getting the guts to take on the world and see if anyone wants to buy what I handmake)
...I am working on some projects for friends to give their friends and family as gifts.




Here's greeting package #1:


I'll keep everyone posted on when the etsy store officially opens.
I hope the few folks who read this will check it out:)

What's with today, today?

Oh Mondays. Here is a list of 8 reasons why today was today...
1- I woke up at 7am with every intention of going to the gym, but justified not going by counting the hours I will be at work today and assuming I would burn extra calories in overtime. I went back to sleep and woke up at 8am.
2- I had rare Brittney Spears songs in my head that date back to her first album.
3- Surprisingly I ate dinner at home. Not only did I eat at home, but I cleaned out some leftovers for dinner. I don't do leftovers, hence the surprise.
4- It's 8:28pm and I am still at the office.
5- I did 14 sketches of what "could" be holiday cards. All were too detailed and unfit for a mass production. I then made a list of who will be receiving a card, just to see how mass of a production this would be and decided that even the simplist of drawings will take a long time. hooray for spreading homemade holiday cheer.
6- I spent a lot of the day reorganizing my schedule for the week.
7- Ice is still coating all entrances to my office building and apartment building. I enjoy winter, but sometimes forget the down side. I only slipped once and did not fall to the ground. score.
8- I managed to compliment three people today. Good genuine compliments. Not that "you look nice today" stuff, but real, thoughtful compliments.

What's happenin?

Listening to Alicia Keys and Alice Smith
Reading The Greater Good (again)
Coveting , THIS, THIS and especially THIS
Enjoying the writings of Elise, Marta and Emily
Eating granny smith apples, almonds and dried blueberries
Drinking hot caramel coffee from Iowa Bakery Cafe
Hoping for de-iced roads, productive work weeks and holiday music