**It's August.

So, July went south pretty early in the month. It was as if my own little universe exploded. And the rest of the month was used to pick up the pieces, analyze them, get rid of some, add a few and figure out a way to put it back together in a new and beautiful way.

It's August. Expect some "saved up posts" from July, but a new (and much better followed up with) project to come.

Mini Notebooks. Day one- Check.

Day one of the JULY- give it a try festivities was an interesting one. But I did get something accomplished:

I FINALLY posted pictures of my handmade mini notebooks to my Etsy site! (Click the image above if you want to see a few more pictures.) I've been making these bitty hand sewn notebooks for about a year now; handing them out to friends and coworkers to use in meetings, on the road, or if you're me, anytime you have something to remember. I've been planning to begin selling them in threes on Etsy...but never got around to posting some pictures of examples. Hopefully some notable folks will be interested in 3 mini notebooks hand crafted to their color-liking for $7.
Day one is done.
Let's hope day 2 has something equally exciting (I know. It's really only exciting to me) to report.

JULY-- Give it a try

After 6 months of floundering and procrastinating and "what ifs" and maybes...it's time for action. I love a good title, it always spurs action for me, so I decided that July 2009 shall hence forth be referred to "JULY- give it a try."
The goal of said month is to act. To try something new or do something I've been wanting to do or to complete a project I've been putting off.
I always wish I had documented an adventure or put something down on paper and "JULY- give it a try" will give me the opportunity. Through photos, words and funny scribblings I will blog about my month and keep my few blog readers posted on the progress.
If you want to play along and have your own "JULY- give it a try" month of action---make sure to tell me all about it!

Here's to JULY 2009!

Another "taken while driving picture"

It's this kind of day.

I take pictures while driving.

(a sunset on a country road in Eastern Iowa)

Yes. It's bad, but some of the best shots I've ever captured are on my Blackberry Pearl while driving. I vow to stop texting and driving. But photos....ehhh. Mostly I take pics of sunsets or people or funny plates, etc. Things that, because of amazing advances in technology and my obsession with my phone, I can capture forever.

(my drive to work in the morning)

GOventure.

Elise serves as a constant source of blog-spiration for me so when she teamed up with the talented Kal on a spectacularly creative GOventure, I decided it was time for me to jump into blogland again with a creative challenge.

I'm going through some weird times right now* so the "green+dizzy" prompt came to me, obviously, in a mess of marker, crayon, pencil and (oddly enough) a tube of mascara I was throwing out.

I'm trying to tap into my art again. Find a place for it. Big changes coming in my life. And hopefully many many GOventures to come.

*I've decided that 26 is a pivot age. A year that exists solely to cause stress, to cause a ridiculous amount of questioning and to see how much self-doubt and strange changes one can endure in a year long time frame. I'm having a love hate relationship with 26. I think we'll grow to like each other...it has only been one month tomorrow since we first met.

Have you checked out this?

To promote my super talented Iowa friends:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=1938

Danelle is not just a great person, she's a superly awesome artist. She specially made (heart) Iowa pouches for me. And included glittery vinyl. Glitter makes everything cooler, but even without, MonsterFashion is worth a look.

A look at the awesome goods I special ordered from Danelle.

tutelary goddess

The word of the day. Tutelary. "Having the guardianship or charge of protecting a person or a thing; guardian; protecting..." All I could think when I read it was "yes. I need one of those."

Lots of changes needed in my life. Might be time to turn back to art and blogging and creative coping. I need a Tutelary Goddess.

I wish I drew this

Carolyn Alexander via http://reubenmiller.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341ca70953ef011570b803a1970b-pi

Drawing again.

Has Brad Pitt ever had an identity crisis?

So I hear about Brad Pitt and Chuck Close and W Magazine. (Seriously, it must suck being Brad Pitt. He requested Chuck Close do the phots and bam, he has pictures of him that are taken by THE Chuck Close.)
The images are startling. Hot Brad Pitt looking semi average? What's that all about? Something about it, however, is startingly lovely. The worlds most perfect man and his imperfections, regardless how slight they are, out there on magazine racks for the world to see. Not to get all philosophical on my otherwise meaningless blog, but if Brad Pitt is proud and able to share his tiny crows feet with the world, why can't I be vulnerable?


Why can't anyone be free to flaunt their flawed yet fully functioning selves? Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing, how I got here and where I want to go. Do you think Brad Pitt ever asks himself those questions?

Girl Talkin.

So last weekend my sister, not this one, but one of the others, and I went to see Greg Gillis, otherwise known as Girl Talk. I was expecting craziness, yes. (Did you see the crazy YouTube videos of him at Lalapalooza in Chicago? Insanity.) But what I experienced was seriously the biggest, sweat-filled, floor shaking party I've ever been to. It was like Joseph Conrad took to the stage. A collage artist hunched over a Mac Book. I person sweating and head banging more than humanly possible. If you get the chance, Go.

Thought of the day