Embracing new opportunities

Not only do my mouth and my brain run a million miles a minute, but at one time... so did my hands. I used to fancy myself Idaho's version of Martha Stewart, but with better hair, better business sense... and a real sense of humor. Ok... so the only thing Martha and I had in common was the love of creating things.

Re-upholstery. Floral design. Sewing: home decor, clothes, dolls (you name it... I sewed it). Furniture restoration. Painting. Scrapbooking. Crochet. Cross stitch. I once built a dollhouse (power tools and all) taller than my 7 year old sister. I like to think it was her favorite birthday present ever. In short, I don't like knowing there is something that I can't do. I've briefly played with web design (I dreamt in html code for an entire summer... lame... really, really lame I know, but I was about 18 and I taught myself, so give me a break) and graphic design... which have led to my recent and quite frankly, most exciting, project. Illustration.

I am illustrating a children's book. It feels surreal and commission artwork is something I've only dreamt of, so forgive me if I skip around for the next few months. This project has caused a rebirth within me, if you will. You see, most of my education is either in business or art. Art and the love for design is what moved me half way across the country to Chicago. But a couple years after I moved, real life set in and my surroundings dictated a different emphasis.

It's ironic to me, really, because I originally gave up my love of all things design when I found myself pregnant with my daughter. Yet I find it again, four years later, when I am pregnant with my son. Life is funny, isn't it?  I'm embracing it this time... and I plan to never let it wander again. I'm currently undertaking several projects, which I can't wait to share with you... including opening two different businesses, one with one of my favorite domestic diva's and the other perhaps for no more reason than to justify the time and to share the many things I'm inspired by daily.

This isn't for everyone. And I can appreciate that. So, I've moved my creative brain to my online studio. Maybe I'll see you there and we share the things that leave us speechless... and maybe, just maybe one of you can teach me how to knit.

My {slightly delayed} 10 Honest Things

I was tagged a couple... whoa... a month ago by @singlemomma_cc aka Not Your Average Single Momma aka total knock your socks off rock star mom. How freaking awesome!

{slides across kitchen in her knee socks}

The Honest Scrap award is given by other bloggers who consider a blog’s content or design to be brilliant. The awardee must then post ten honest things about themselves and pass the award on to other bloggers who fit the bill – in other words, someone brilliant.

10 Honest Things…
ok.
{folds hands and cracks knuckles}

1. I never leave my house without my journal and my camera. Life throws the most random things at us and I know someday I’m not going to remember as much as I want, but this way, I’ll have pictures and little scraps of paper to remind me of the things that made me laugh and cry.

2. From the time I was about 10 years old, I’ve always pictured my life the same way… me and a little girl, walking hand in hand through a big city. Until September 15, 2006 I just assumed it was a metaphor.

3. When life has handed me more than I care to deal with, I put my headphones on and sit in my bathtub, curtain closed… without any water. Growing up, I shared a room with my sister and that was really the only place I had privacy.

4. I was married at 17. We were officially divorced almost 9 years later. He knows me better than most people I interact with daily, better than my family and any man I’ve been with since. He knows the darkness I fought to overcome. He’s stronger than he realizes. He’s the father of my daughter and someone I still consider a friend, even though we still drive each other absolutely insane.

5. I was curiously quiet when I was younger. I wouldn’t leave my house by myself and had very few friends. I spent my childhood observing people and am now unusually perceptive.

6. I was raised by my step parents. My real mother began playing an active role in my life when I was 22. I met my real father for the first time when I was 25. I am the oldest of 9 siblings; half, step and adopted.

7. I grew up on a 25 acre goat farm in Idaho. I was in 4-H and won 2 first place ribbons for my LaMancha goat named Butterfinger.

8. I’ve shot a moose, 2 deer, a rabbit and a handful of birds, but I refuse to put a worm on the fish hook.

9. My first crush ever was on my best friend. She lived on the corner, three houses down. Popular girl. Head cheerleader. She made me feel invincible. 15 years later, I find I have an unnatural attraction to computer geeks.

10. I use humor to deflect, music to express and Twitter to distract.

*Bonus. I want to open a Bed & Breakfast in Northern Washington, grow lavender and have my own textile and furniture design company.

@MartiniMom
@SingleMomSays aka MindyMom
@jrporter
@MrsKaty
My Hot Blonde Stalker Chick…

And a couple people I would just like to know more about…
@JellieBraden
@beporter
@bsdpunk

So, tag you’re it.
#assslap

I'm managing a colony of ants and fairies.

I have a little morning ritual after Addi leaves for school... I chat with Barstow for a few, check my email and read the new posts from the 83 blogs I follow while eating breakfast. Why don't I have any time to read books again? [Which reminds me... I finished mine. Review time later.]

I am always on the look-out for new inspiration, although I find it everywhere. Sometimes I will be riding the train and the look on someones face makes me feel like painting... something I haven't done in a while. Too long. Rambling aside, I came across a blog called Fifty Words, in which Sam writes exactly fifty word stories Monday through Friday. I've been sitting on this blog for a while, just wanted to make sure I was in the right frame of mind to read the posts... I don't really know what that means. I read the majority of his posts this morning and am in love. I am circling this and drawing a heart around him. Here's a taste of his project...

the thing he wrote
from Fifty Words

After writing it from his heart, he killed it himself, just to be safe, and started over, stripping it of lovingly-crafted adverbs and drowning its passive voice in poison. Across the anvil of grammar he struck with the hammer of pathos until it glowed hot and bright, ready for battle.

[sigh]

Another thing I discovered... Special K smells like Addi's pee diapers. I'm not sure what to do with that.