While you were sleeping...

Monday Musings

Cal picked this one today:

"Success: Success is living a full and balanced life in partnership with others to create a joyful feeling of love, contribution, appreciation, and abundance, despite how our endeavors may turn out." I have no idea where this quote came from -- no attribution on the card. Sorry!

I've been thinking a lot about success lately and why, for me, it involves public recognition. It isn't enough to create something wonderful -- it has to be shown to others and appreciated for me to feel its value. Why? Is this natural? Normal? Dangerous? WHY DO I CARE WHAT OTHERS THINK?

I think the hardest thing is to create something for myself -- and something totally different than what anyone else would create -- and then send it out into the world and try to get appreciation and recognition for it. It's almost counter-intuitive. How can I create something that's truly "me" while caring what others will think? At the same time, how can I NOT care? Why have a blog or try to get published or post finished objects or layouts or try to sell things I've created? Hmmm.

I do not have the answers here. But if you do, please let me know. I'm struggling.

Bag Your Babe

For those of you in the Bay Area, I'll be teaching a scrapbook class on 2/25 at Picture Passion in Campbell. The theme is "Bag Your Babe" and it's an album made from paper lunch bags with tons of cool ribbon, tags, and more!

I know, this is a tiny picture. But you can see larger photos including another shot here and here.

The album is perfect for boys or girls, or for a grown-up "babe" too!

Cost is $25. Time: 10 AM to 12 noon, Saturday, 2/25. Be the first to sign up and I'll buy you a latte at Starbucks!

Calling all knitters!

Okay, this is the third time I've written the same message. Darn Typepad anyway -- as soon as you click away from this page, your unsaved entry disappears (though the title stays -- tell me why that is???)

Anyway, if you are a knitter you will want to read on... And you'll want to sign up for Lain's Super-Duper Stitch Marker Swap! Leave a comment to this message by 2/18 (my bday -- a good a day as any to make a deadline). Then I'll match up partners. You'll make 10 fabu markers and send 'em out to meet their fiber destiny, and receive 10 in return. How fun is that?

Here are a few tutorials to get you started:

Beaded Markers

Beaded Markers II

Beaded Markers III

Shrink Plastic Markers

Sign up now! Ragan, you know you want to...

Edit: I'm trying to decide if it would be better (i.e., more fun) to send 5 markers to two people, or all 10 to one. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Coolio

One of my favorite things on blogs is seeing lists of people's favorite things. How's that for metaphysical? Or should I say, blogaphysical? Or metablogical? Whatever. I thought I'd do my own list of things that make me smile but seeing as it's 10:15 at night, I'm beginning to fade out. I'll do my best, though:

Planners. Filofaxes, Franklin Planners, whatever. You name it and I've probably given it a shot at some point in my life. One of my favorite parts of the new year is getting all my info into my brand-spankin'-new planner. Yippee! Here's what I'm using right now, but in a way cooler magenta color. There is just nothing as great as making a list of things to do and then getting it done. Makes me feel in control of the world.

Yarn. Good wool and great yarn stores just make my heart beat faster. My current favorite.

Dirty hands. When I've put in a hard day of art-making, my hands are coated in ink, paint, and that oh-so-stubborn vellum spray. How fun is that?

The NYT Sunday Crossword. If I can do the whole thing -- which happens about once every month or two -- I feel like that $100,000 education was put to good use. Whoops, sorry -- I got distracted on that site with a free puzzle! Check it out -- you can even solve it online. V. cool.

Guess that's it for now. Tell me what makes YOU smile!

Children for Sale

I'm lying here next to my son, and he thinks I need to sell something on my blog. So what do I have a lot of? Hmmm... Kids! So let me know if you would like a small son or daughter. They're pretty cute, and all but the smallest are housetrained. (Just kidding, of course).

Yesterday at the Gift Show was pretty overwhelming. Imagine going to an Arabian bazaar. Now put that under the roof of the Moscone Center, multiply it by about 100, and you have an idea of what we were facing. There were literally thousands of vendors, selling everything from jewelry to squeaky toys to handmade goods, all mixed in together with no rhyme or reason. We had a couple of specific items on our agenda -- I was looking for crafting items, scrapbooking stuff, and paper goods, and my friend was in search of some specific jewelry items. But because of the way things were laid out, it was impossible to home in on what we were looking for. We had to just wander around and hope we came across what we wanted.

The thing that amazed me the most is how much JUNK there is out there. So much cheapola -- so much stuff you can't imagine anyone buying. And booth after booth of the same stuff. Glass figurines. Rubber ducks. Porcelain cowboy boots. On and on and on. After a while, even the good stuff lost its lustre because it was surrounded by so much garbage.

Of course, I did manage to spend some money. I bought a ton of ribbon from May Arts, and another ton of stationery from Waste Not Paper. This stuff is so cool -- awesome colors like chartreuse and beet, and lots of fun combinations. Can't wait to get it in!

I also found a booth for one of my favorite record companies -- Putumayo World Music. They had the full line there and were selling single discs for $8 -- about half off. I bought a bunch! My favorites are the lounge music -- great background tunes for when I'm working. Few of the lounge songs have lyrics, and those that do are in foreign languages so they are not distracting. Definitely check them out if you're looking for something different.

Afterwards, I'm having a touch of buyer's remorse (Did I really need $150 worth of ribbon???), but once everything gets in, I am going to be in hog heaven.

Monday Musings

Okay, this is a quick one. I'm heading out to the SF Gift Show with my friend Debbie today, and I have to get on the road! I'll let you know what I got (me -- BUY something??? NEVER) tomorrow. But before I take off, here's today's quote:

"When I tell you the story of my life, I don't have to do anything special -- just tell the truth of it as i lived it, with all its ragged edges and loose ends, all the hurtful and the healing bits. When you tell me your story, I don't have to do anything special, either: Just listen and reflect and be amazed."

--Susan Wittig Albert, "Writing From Life: Telling Your Soul's Story"

As I get older, I am so more and more in search of truth -- truth in others, in particular, and truth in myself. It's like making the choice in "The Matrix" -- which pill will you choose? I want the one that helps me see things as they are, and I want to surround myself with others who want the same thing, too. There's too much fakery in the world -- I want to see the man behind the curtain, and get to know him. That's not always pretty, but it's real.

I am so proud...

... Of this!

In case it's too small to read, it says "Let go and fly... your destiny is waiting." This is an entry for the art journal challenge, and the topic was "What are you searching for?" It turned out to fit perfectly with Studio Friday's topic, "By Accident."

I went with many different ideas before I came to this. And I love it because it is so unlike anything I've done before. FUN! And indeed it did come about more or less by accident... just playing around. It wasn't what I sat down to do at all, and that is OKAY.

What are you doing that you've never done before?

Check out other Studio Friday entries here.

New Year's Update

It's February 1, and you know what that means... No, I'm not going groundhog hunting; instead, it's time for the first episode of the New Year's ReVOLution update! Here's how I'm faring so far on my intentions for 2006:

1. Letting go of books I've read: B. I have passed on about a dozen books and a stack of mags, but I could be doing more. In fact, I think I will occasionally offer books up for grabs here so you can benefit from my Project Spaciousness!

2. Not re-reading books: A. I can confidently say I'm doing great on this front -- as long as you don't count our bedtime reads, like "Olivia," "Goodnight, Moon," and "The Hobbit."

3. Not worrying about my weight: C. It's getting better, but still... read this post from Jody to see some inspiration on this front.

4. Not snacking at night: C. Way too many popcorn nights with the kids!

5. Letting go of self-doubt: F. I am still doubting my abilities to do things I dream of -- getting published in some of the scrapbooking/paper arts mags, getting my book published, breaking into home design mags, etc. Ugh.

6. Not fighting my inner nature: B. I think I actually am doing quite well at recognizing my feelings about things, circumstances, and people, as well as honoring my natural desires.

7. Not waiting for the "thank you:" B. As they say in the government, "Progress is being made." I keep reminding myself to do things for ME, not for the recognition. It's getting better!

8. Not waiting to RSVP for events: A. I'm doing well on this -- had opps for a couple of things that I took care of right away. Yay, me!

9. Not waiting for the "perfect" time to use things: B. A couple of times I felt myself resist when I was reaching for a particular embellishment or paper, but I brushed the feelings aside and said, "Just go with it -- I can always buy more if I want to!" It felt really, really good.

10. Not selling things on eBay: A. Not one!

11. Not beating myself up about how much money I spend on iced tea at Peet's: A. I have occasionally steered myself to Starbucks instead because the refills are a heck of a lot cheaper. But I enjoy the experience so much more when I don't flog myself for doing it!

So there you have it. What are your goals/intentions for 2006? How is it going? Please share -- let me know -- I can use some company here! Also, how do you deal with some of these issues like self-doubt, body image, etc.? Hints will be much appreciated!